The White Rose Heir
by Hawk Mistress
Summary: A side of Jessamine Longbranch never seen before... rated M for sexual situations and language. Warning: Jessamine Longbranch gets a little out of character as the story goes along.
1. Prologue

Author's note: hey guys! Rate and Review to let me know what you think just so I know whether or not to continue writing this. There's no point if no one likes it. _ENJOY! _I don't own anything in this fan fiction except for my original characters.

The White Rose Heir

Prologue

Jessamine Longbranch stood on the balcony outside her bedroom staring at the sunset, thinking back to the events that had passed over the past couple of days.

_Pain coursed through her body as another contraction came on. Sweat was pouring off her forehead and she heard her own screams. Then chorusing her own screams were that of a little baby._

Jessamine went back into her room and walked over to her bed. She sat down carefully so as not to awake the new born baby sleeping soundly. He had a small tuft of black hair right on the top of his head. The White Rose leader stared at the baby boy thinking hard.

Her eyes closed as she shook her head and let out a frustrated sigh.

It has to be done, she thought to herself.

A man about as tall as her entered the room without permission with passive expression on his handsome face. His light ice blue eyes were cold, as they usually were. His sandy blond hair was spiked up making him look quite handsome and a threat to any man who had a beautiful woman.

"Dr. Longbranch," he said, bowing slightly in respect.

"Hunter," Jess said, inclining her head and standing up.

"Did you make a decision, ma'am?"

"Yes, take him to the orphanage in London, like we originally planned."

"It will be done, Dr. Longbranch."

"His name is Jay," she said glancing down at the baby again.

Her back was to him and she was slightly startled as his arms wrapped around her waist. His warm lips brushed her neck, causing her eyes to roll back. She grabbed him by the wrists and stopped him from continuing.

"Not right now, Hunter. I have to meet with Geoffrey Wiley to discuss the terms for the next tournament. But when I get done with that and you get back from getting rid of this little pest," she said motioning to the baby, then continued, "Then we'll have some fun."

She planted a kiss on Hunter's greedy lips and left the room.

Hunter stared at the little baby.

Pest, huh, he thought.

She's really going to think he's a pest later in life, if things go my way that is, he thought with a smirk.

Hunter Pinebone had great things in store for the little warrior. Plans that involved Jessamine Longbranch's blood being spilled until none was left.


	2. Chapter 1

Author's note: hey guys here's chapter 1. Let me know what you think so I can stay motivated I don't own anything in this book except for my original characters.

Chapter 1

Powers Manifest

A small private jet landed in Boston, Massachusetts and Hunter Pinebone climbed out of it with the baby carrier in his hands. He glanced down at the sleeping baby and gave a sadistic grin. He couldn't wait to train this boy, to fight, to kill; to kill a certain wizard that needed to be put in her place.

Hunter hopped into a small car that took him to an orphanage where a friend of his was waiting. The car pulled onto the gravel driveway and on the porch of the enormous four story orphanage was a woman with dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Her hazel eyes lit up when she saw Hunter climb out of the car.

She ran to him and he set the carrier on the ground as she jumped at him. He wrapped her in a hug and kissed her deeply and passionately.

"God, I missed you," she said quietly.

"And I you, my dear," he replied with a loving smile.

The woman glanced down at the carrier and saw a cute little baby boy with a tuft of black hair and beautiful deep blue eyes. The baby stared back at her with a curious expression. Then he smiled a toothless grin. She couldn't help but laugh, it was so cute.

"So this is Jessamine Longbranch's son huh, Hunter?" she asked.

"Yes, Stephanie, this is him. I need you to take care of him for me. If we can keep the Roses away from him for longing enough…" he trailed off, and then shook his head.

"He is the key to our success; if we lose him to the Roses then we lose all hope of accomplishing our goal."

"Don't worry, I'll keep him safe."

The two wizard's shared one last kiss and Hunter went to climb back into the car then stopped remembering something.

"Oh, by the way, his name is Jay."

_14 YEARS LATER_

A tall fourteen year old boy with spiky black hair and deep blue eyes was sitting alone in his room at a Boston orphanage wanting to go outside but couldn't because of the blizzard. The owner of the orphanage never let the kids out in bad weather. He sighed; he knew he wasn't like the others. He could stand the cold weather, but for some reason Miss Stephanie, the owner of the orphanage, didn't want the other kids to know he was different than them. Someone opened the door to his room but he didn't look to see who, he didn't care.

"Hello, Jay," A deep voice said to the boy.

Jay turned to look at the man that had walked into his room. The man was tall, about 6' 6", with brown hair and blue eyes with a scar running from the left side of his forehead to the corner of his jaw.

"Where did you get that scar?" Jay asked the man, not caring for a name or explanation of why he was there.

"I'm in the Air Force. I got it in a training accident, but that's not important. I came here to give you something-"

"Can I at least get a name?" Jay said cutting him off, now he cared who he was.

"I'm General Aaron Ross," Aaron was a little annoyed by the way the kid was treating him.

He could defiantly tell who the kid's mother was with no doubt about it.

But does that mean that I'm his father? No his mother left me, she obviously didn't want a kid with me so I know for sure he's not my son, General Ross thought.

Aaron had a long duffel bag over his shoulder, he set it down on the wood floor and pulled a long sword scabbard out. Jay looked at it with amazement; the sword handle was black leather with a white rose pommel and silver piece separating the blade from the handle. When Aaron pulled the sword out its sheath Jay noticed that the blade was very long and close to the handle there were two curvatures. The Air Force General handed the sword, handle first, to the young boy who was staring in awe.

When Jay gripped the handle he felt power surge into him and heard a voice whisper in his ear: _CHARGER_. The blade shined with a brilliant light that blinded Aaron as he watched the boy for a reaction.

"Did it speak to you?" Aaron asked.

"Charger" Jay answered with a hushed voice.

"Good. It's linked with you now and no one else can wield it." General Ross laid the sword's sheath on Jay's bed and turned to leave.

"Wait! Why did you give me this?" Jay asked suddenly curious to why this man even knew about him.

"I was told a warrior lived here in this orphanage and I took advantage of it. Once the Roses find out about you you'll need all the protection you can get. That sword will do you good."

"Miss Stephanie said that the Roses would never find me here."

"Ah, so you do know about the Roses." I'm going to test him and see if he knows who his mother is, Aaron thought. "Then tell me, who is the leader of the Red Rose?"

"Geoffrey Wylie." Jay answered.

"The White Rose?"

"Jessamine Longbranch."

"What's her profession besides training warriors for the White Rose?"

"She's a heart surgeon. Her office is in London and she lives in a palace by the Thames."

"Does she have any kids?" Aaron asked the boy.

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"No reason just seeing how much you know. What about the Game what do you know about that?"

"It's the tournament that the Roses put two warriors against each other and the fight's not over 'til one of the warriors kills the other."

"You know that you're a warrior right?"

"Yeah. But the Roses have never come after me. Well this one guy comes like every year to check on me but he told me he's not with either of the Roses."

"What does he look like?" Aaron asked with a grim tone.

"He has sandy blonde hair and ice blue eyes and his name is Hunter. He's really nice."

"Hunter is the wizard that Jessamine Longbranch trusts the most out of any of the wizards in the White Rose. Be wary of him. Oh, and you look a lot like your mother."

"You know my mother? Who is she?" Jay asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you that. I will tell you she's a White Rose wizard," Aaron then turned to leave not waiting for the kid to ask any more questions.

Before Jay could even say thank you, General Aaron Ross left. Then about five minutes later Hunter Pinebone walked in without even knocking.

"Hello, Jay. How are you doing?" Hunter asked Jay.

"Good. How are things going in London, Hunter?" Jay had hid Charger under his bed in case Miss Stephanie came in.

"Great. So have you felt your powers manifesting yet?"

"No not yet."

"Pity," Hunter was getting impatient.

He wanted the boy's powers to manifest so he could train him to kill Longbranch and he could take control of the White Rose.

Jay and Hunter talked for about thirty minutes then Hunter left. Jay got in his pajamas and lied down to go to sleep with his hands behind his head. I'm glad I finally have a sword so that I can start training, but it's probably a good thing I didn't tell Hunter that that Aaron guy gave me a sword, Jay thought as he fell asleep.

A few months later Jay noticed that he was getting taller and his muscles were getting bigger. At night he would sneak out and train in the woods next to the orphanage. But he would soon find out if his training was paying off.

One night he was just finishing up with his training when four wizards walked out of the trees wearing red cloaks.

"We finally found you. You're one hard kid to track," the tallest of the group said to Jay. The wizard that spoke to him had a tattoo of a red rose on the side of his neck and a clean shave. He was obviously the leader of the group.

"Look at this, he's been training too. Maybe we won't have to waste time training him ourselves and just challenge the White Rose right off the bat," A short man said to the man who had first talked.

"We'll just have to see. Wylie will want to make sure he's good enough to even play in the Game. Let's just get this over with. Come on kid just come quietly and we won't hurt you."

"I'm not coming with you I don't want to fight in the Game!" Jay yelled at the Red Rose wizards, raising his sword ready to attack.

"We'll just have to do this the hard way then."

Two of the wizards shot blue green flames at him so he rolled to the left just barely dodging the deadly flames. A young girl wizard about his age shot flames at him as well but she just didn't seem like she even wanted to be shooting any kind of spell at him. Just then the leader of the group sent a huge wall of flame barreling towards Jay so the fourteen year old warrior raised his sword instinctively and Charger split the wall in half. The wizards just stared for a moment then out of anger at being bested by a fourteen year old the leader of the Red Rose group shot an immobilization charm at Jay and it hit him directly in the chest and he fell to the forest floor with a hair raising thud and dropped his sword.

Then there was a yell and flames shot out of the trees and slammed into one of the Red Rose wizards. Hunter stepped out of the bushes with an angry scowl on his handsome face.

"Back off," Hunter said with a deadly tone.

"Hunter Pinebone. So Jessamine knows about the boy already huh?" the dude with the red rose tattoo asked.

"Yep she sent me here to collect him."

All Jay could do was lay there watching not able to do anything else. Hunter raised his hand and muttered something under his breath and something flashed from his hand and another Red Rose wizard hit the ground screaming in pain.

"You guys better leave or I'll put more wizards graffes in all of you.." Hunter said with the same deadly tone.

"I'll get you for this, Hunter." The leader of the group said with a just as deadly tone. He and the girl left without one more look at their fallen comrades.

Hunter laid his hand on Jay's chest and muttered something and Jay could move again.

"Thanks, Hunter. When did you get back to the States?" Jay said picking up his sword.

"Just a few minutes ago actually. Where did you get that sword, Jay?"

"This guy gave it to me like two days after you left last time so I started training with it."

"Well that's good news. I'll take you to London in a few months okay? Then I can give you proper training."

"Did Dr. Longbranch really send you?"

"No she doesn't know about you yet. But that's okay because I can train you better than she ever could." Hunter said with a smirk.

"But you told those Red Rose wizards that she did send you. Why did you lie?" Jay said sliding Charger back in its scabbard.

"I had to have an excuse to be here. What would they think if I just said I was here to see you? It is better that I lied to them anyway. I hate The Red Rose."

"Oh. Well that's a good reason. I guess?"

"I have to go back to London right away. Go back to your room and stay there for the night. No more training in the woods, if The Red Rose comes back I won't be able to help you next time. Bye, Jay."

Jay went back to his room and climbed into bed instantly falling asleep.

Four months later Jay was walking in the streets of Boston looking for something to do. When he walked past a tattoo parlor he got an idea. He ran back to the orphanage and took a picture of Charger then ran back to the tattoo parlor and went inside. There was no one in the shop besides one guy reading a magazine at the front desk. The guy looked up when Jay walked in.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"See this sword?" Jay asked holding up the picture.

The man nodded.

"Can you give me a tattoo of it on my back with a white rose at the top and a vine wrapping around the sword and my arms?" Jay said.

"Yeah I can do that. How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"How old are you really?" The guy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Almost fifteen."

"That's okay as long as you can pay for it I'll give you a tattoo."

"Really! Thanks!"

An hour later Jay paid for the tattoo and left the parlor; he was headed for the orphanage when someone grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't do anything just keep walking. We're going back to the orphanage and getting your sword."

Jay looked over at the man who had grabbed him. The man was just a bit taller than Jay with messy gray hair, a short gray beard and a white cloak.

White Rose! Jay thought.

"I'm not coming with you." Jay said as he kneed the man in between the legs.

The old White Rose wizard dropped to his knees groaning. Jay took off towards the orphanage glad to have long legs now. Something slammed into his arm and the force of it spun him so that he smacked right into a metal pole. He hit the ground back first, the breath knocked out of him. A woman stood over him and said something he didn't catch. Then she lifted Jay up by the front of his shirt. Jay hated being mean to girls but his survival came first. So after he was on his feet he grabbed the woman's shirt collar and flipped her over him and onto the cement. Not looking to see if she was alright, he took off running even faster than ever before. Luckily he reached the orphanage without being attacked again. Jay ran up the stairs skipping three at a time and flung the door open to his room, reached under his bed, and grabbed _Charger_.

A young male wizard was in his doorway and Jay took one look at the wizard then jumped out the window. Something hit him in the center of the back of his neck and he felt instant stinging pain. Jay tried to turn in the air but didn't turn fast enough so he hit the ground hard, left arm first. He looked up at the gray clouds, rain falling on his face; his room was on the fourth floor so the wizard was surprised that he had survived the fall. Jay looked at his body and saw glass poking out of him every where. His left arm was at an abnormal angle. It's definitely broken, Jay thought.

The young warrior stood and raced into the woods. He felt himself getting weaker and weaker. Jay stumbled and fell down a steep hill that had dead trees all around. He felt his ribs crack and heard tree branches snapping off as he fell. He laid at the bottom of the hill wishing for death. Then the gray haired wizard, the woman, and the wizard who had been in his doorway all stood over him.

"Didn't think he would be this strong. Jessamine said this would be easy, well she can just go fuck herself! This was no where near easy," The woman said with disgust.

"Doesn't she already do that, though?" the old man asked, trying to hold back a smile.

"What did you end up hitting him with, Syrus?" the woman asked the younger wizard, shooting a glare at the old wizard.

"Wizards graffe. It hit him in the neck so we better put some charms on it until Dr. Longbranch can deal with it. This one is so rebellious she just might not want to keep him." Syrus said, ignoring his two partners.

"Right." the woman and the old man said at the same time.

Jay tried to see what they were doing but he couldn't keep control of his eye lids and his head hit the forest floor as he slipped into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 2

AN: Here's another chapter no copyrite infringement intended

CHAPTER 2

Jessamine Longbranch

Jessamine Longbranch was sitting at her huge desk in her office in London holding back moans of pleasure. A man with blonde hair had his head between her legs, bringing her some much needed pleasure. Some how, her thoughts wandered to the son that she gave up years ago. Maybe I made a mistake in putting him in an orphanage. Maybe I should have just kept him here with me and hid him away. She considered all of the possibilities and came to the conclusion that it was better that she gave him up. She didn't have a pesky child bugging her and getting in her way.

The distracted surgeon was jolted out of her thoughts, and her pleasure, by a knock at the door.

"Who is it," she said greatly annoyed.

Hunter walked in with a grim and frustrated look on his usually calm face.

"Hunter, God Damn it!" she yelled shoving the man with his head between her legs hard enough that he fell backwards and hit his head on the desk.

The man left in a hurry and Jessamine quickly did up her pants, glaring at Hunter afterwards.

"Come now, Dr. Longbranch, we both know I've caught you doing much worse things," Hunter said with a smirk.

"What the hell do you want?" she said, grumpily.

"Your son… I was just notified that he was killed, by the Red Rose." Hunter said, not daring to look her in the face.

Jessamine tried not to break down, but couldn't handle the stress and now the guilt of giving away her only son. She never thought she cared this much about the little shit. And now he's dead, she thought. Jessamine stifled her tears for now, not wanting to cry in front of Hunter.

"Jacobi and Syrus just informed me that they captured a warrior in Boston, Massachusetts. They said they need your help and quickly, he's dying of a wizard's graffe." Hunter said.

Dr. Longbranch stood without a word and she and the young wizard walked out of her office. Jessamine turned to lock it then they left. "I want to bring my apprentice. She needs to learn how to cure wizard's graffes. She's in the room just down the hall; could you fetch her for me?" Jessamine asked her young assistant.

"Yes, Dr. Longbranch," Hunter said as he turned down the hall to get the young girl.

After she climbed into her car Dr. Longbranch jumped as she noticed a man with brown hair, blue eyes, and a scar on the left side of his face, was in the passenger seat.

"Tell Hunter that you'll meet him there. We need to talk," the man said without looking at her.

Jessamine texted Hunter, telling him to meet her at the White Rose headquarters. Then she put the keys in the ignition and started her white Dodge Avenger. She revved the engine and the tires spun and smoked as she pulled away from the curb. The man didn't speak to her for a few moments. So she broke the silence for him.

"What the fuck do _**you**_ want, Aaron," Jessamine said this without letting her eyes leave the road.

"When were you going to tell me that you had a son?" he asked with a grim, demanding tone.

This time she threw a surprised glance at him.

How and when did he find out, she asked herself.

"How did you find out?" she asked, hands tightening on the steering wheel.

"A friend of mine told me there was a warrior in an orphanage. I took a sword to him and I didn't even have to look closely to know he was your son, Jessamine."

"You're not his father if that's why you're here," Jessamine could feel Aaron Ross's blue eyes boring into her.

"I know I'm not his father. I'm here because I want to know why you sent him to The States instead of keeping him with you. I don't know why I'm even asking this because you abandoned me too. So why should it have been any different with your own _**son**_."

That statement really hit home. She slammed her foot on the gas pedal and her car was flying down the street at an illegal speed.

"For your information I didn't send him to The States! He was supposed to be in an orphanage here in London!"

The White Rose headquarters was ahead so she slowed down.

"You have to go now, Aaron. Hunter is right behind me and if he sees you he'll wonder why you were in my car."

Aaron got out of the car without even a good bye to his former lover. Jessamine waited a moment for Hunter and her apprentice to get out of Hunter's black Lamborghini. Eleven year old Leah got out of his car, her black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her green eyes glinted in the sun and when she saw her mentor she flashed that lovable smile that no one could resist. Sometimes I think she's an enchanter, Jessamine thought.

"Hey, Dr. Longbranch. So we have a new warrior, huh?" Leah asked after they were inside.

"Maybe. If I can heal the wizards graffe he's been shot with. Where did he get hit, Hunter?"

"The center of the back of his neck. Syrus is the one who shot him with it." Hunter replied.

"Well if I can't heal you sure as hell can."

All Hunter did was grunt.

The three wizards walked into a room that reminded Leah a lot of a hospital room. A fourteen, maybe fifteen, year old was lying flat on his back in a small bed. He had black spiky hair. There were three other wizards in the room looking expectantly at Jessamine Longbranch. Jessamine was frozen, staring at the boy with wide eyes. Her piercing green eyes were slightly dull.

She knows, Hunter thought with anger and frustration.

"Jessamine what's wrong?" Syrus, a fairly short man with gray eyes and brown hair, asked Jessamine.

"Nothing. I just thought for a second... Never mind. Well let's take a look."

Longbranch pulled a chair to the bedside and rolled the young warrior over onto his stomach. There was a shitty looking red spot on his neck. She immediately started healing it. This is the first time I've touched him in almost fifteen years, she thought, holding back tears. After about thirty minutes she had it healed and she waited to see if he would wake up. He was still heavily unconscious so she told Lily, the female wizard who helped to capture the young warrior, to call her as soon as he woke up.

Later that night Jessamine was straddling the same man from her office, rocking he hips against his, letting out loud moans of pleasure when Lily called. As soon as she hung up the phone Jessamine climbed off the man and pulled on her clothes and ran down the large stair case in her beautiful home. She jumped into her car and once again flew down the streets.

A cop's sirens and lights came on. Jessamine looked in the mirror over the dashboard and saw the cop car racing after her. She thought for a moment then slowed down and pulled to the side of the road. The cop got out of his car and walked up to the white Avenger. She rolled her window down.

"Ma'am do you know how fast you were going?" the cop asked her, shining a light on her.

"I'm sorry officer." she reached out and touched his hand (which was resting on the car door) flooding him with power. Jessamine was using Persuasion. "My son is in the hospital I have to hurry, they said he was dying."

"It's alright, Miss. I hope your son gets better," the cop said then turned and walked back to his car.

Jessamine slammed her foot on the gas again and within minutes she reached the White Rose headquarters. She slid out of her car, hitting the lock button on the key, and ran into the building. When she reached the young warrior's room Lily was sitting in a chair outside of the door.

"How long has he been up?" Jessamine asked.

"Only a few minutes. He's been muttering something to himself and saying something about Charger," Lily replied with a yawn.

"You can go home now," Dr. Longbranch said as she walked into the boy's room.

Jessamine shut the door behind her and cursed under her breath. Looks like he's asleep again, she thought.

She pulled a chair up next to the bed, and watched him closely. He opened his eyes slightly, revealing deep blue eyes. When Jay first saw Jessamine Longbranch he knew at that second he had seen her somewhere before.

"Who are you?" Jay asked the beautiful woman looking at him.

"I'm Dr. Jessamine Longbranch."

"You're the Warriormaster for the White Rose." he croaked.

"Yes I am. What's your name?" she asked.

"Jay."

"Do you have a last name?"

"No. I come from an orphanage in Boston. Where am I?"

"London. In the White Rose headquarters. You were brought here to fight for us in the Game."

"I don't want to fight in the Game." Jay said grimly, looking up at the ceiling.

"Can you sit up?"

"Yeah." he tried to sit up but gave a yelp."Okay. Maybe not."

"Here. I'll help you." Jessamine said as she slipped her hand under his back and lifted him into a sitting position.

When she touched him it felt like electricity was embedded in her palm. As he sat up he stared at her. She looked at him and their eyes met. As he stared into her green eyes Jay felt like this woman was somehow important to him. He felt that if any one ever hurt Jessamine Longbranch he would rip them apart.

"Alright face the wall and take your shirt off." she told him.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Just do it. I have to check and see if you have any deep lacerations that will cause life threatening infections."

Jay obeyed without another word. Jessamine was surprised to see a sword tattoo on his back. The sword had a white rose above it with a vine wrapping around the sword and a vine wrapping around both of his arms as well.

"Where did you get this?" she asked him.

"Oh, that. A tattoo parlor not far from the orphanage."

"And how old are you?"

"I'll be fifteen in two weeks."

"They just gave you a tattoo?"

"The guy said as long as I could pay for it he would give me the tattoo He didn't really care how old I was."

Jessamine didn't say anything and just ran her hand down his back, then asked him to turn around so his chest was facing her. She then ran her hands down his chest. This isn't good, she thought.

"I found five cuts that could kill you because of the infections that could form. Your ribs are pretty much shattered as well. I'll dress the wounds then I'll be out of your hair. For now." she said as she was pulling out medical tape and gauss out of a medical kit on the wall.

"I broke my arm too."

She gave him with a questioning look. "How did you do that?"

"I jumped out of a window on the fourth floor of the orphanage."

Her eyes widened at this. Syrus had never said anything about Jay jumping out a window.

"Alright I'll put a cast on it."

About an hour later she was done dressing his wounds and getting a cast on his broken left arm.

"What's that tattoo represent?" she asked.

"The sword represents me and the white rose represents my mom. The guy that gave me my sword said my mother was a White Rose wizard. The vines represent that no matter where I am or where she is, we're always with each other." he said with a sad smile.

"Where is my sword anyway?" he asked.

"Locked up somewhere. I can't risk leaving it with you. You might try to kill everyone in this building to get away."

Jessamine couldn't think of anything to say so she just said good bye and left. Jay fell asleep with thoughts of his mother, wondering what she looked like and what kind of personality she had. But he dreamt of another person: Jessamine Longbranch.

Jay woke up so sore that he felt like he was dying. He tried his best to sit up on his own, and it took three tries before he finally sat up. To his surprise Hunter was sitting in the corner with his arms folded.

"Hey, Hunter." Jay said with a flat tone.

"Hello, Jay. So I see Dr. Longbranch patched you up." Hunter said with a casual tone.

"So, why did you lie to me about you not being with either of the Roses?" Jay asked with the same neutral tone.

"I had my reasons alright? Besides it's not really your business anyway. Hopefully the healing process will be over quickly so you can start intense training. The sooner the better."

"Why? So you and Dr. Longbranch can get me ready for the Game. I already told her, I don't want to fight." Jay said staring at the wall.

"Look, if this goes my way you won't have to. Just don't tell Longbranch that you knew me before this." Hunter said as he left.

Not two minutes later Dr. Jessamine Longbranch came into Jay's room and he couldn't help but give her a huge grin. She looked at him a moment then gave him a small smile.

"How are you feeling today, Jay?" she asked as she pulled a syringe with a needle on the end out of the medical kit.

"Fine, Dr. Longbranch. How bout you?" he asked.

"I'm alright. Wait. Did you just ask me how I was doing?" she turned to look at him with a questioning gaze.

"What, am I not allowed to ask you how you're doing?" he asked, still grinning and raising an eyebrow.

"It's just that no one has asked me that before, not the warriors I'm supposed to be training for the Game anyway." she said filling the syringe with some kind of medicine, or that's what Jay guessed it was anyway.

"Oh. So what are you filling that syringe wi-" his question was cut off as Jessamine stuck his neck with the needle and pushed the medicine into him. Jay felt a burning sensation that quickly spread through his body.

"Sorry about that. I just gave you Mind Burner; it will help you train while you have injuries."

Dr. Longbranch threw the syringe in the trash then helped Jay out of bed and surprisingly he felt no pain. There were some clean clothes on the end of the bed, and Jessamine left the room so Jay could have some privacy. When Jay was done changing he and Jessamine left the warriors' quarters and went to a room that looked a lot like a gymnasium just without the basketball hoops. Weapons lined the walls, axes, war hammers, daggers, swords, and sheilds as well. Hunter was talking with a girl of about eleven or twelve who looked so much like Jessamine Longbranch that Jay had no doubt the little girl was the heart surgeon's daughter. Hunter's back was facing Jay and the girl glanced towards Dr. Longbranch and the new warrior, she smiled and Jay just blinked. He didn't know what to think of this 'Jessamine clone'.

"Hello, Leah. Hunter is everything ready?" Jess asked.

"Yes, Dr. Longbranch. I brought his sword so we can see how his skills are with it." Hunter said.

"I'm not sure giving him a weapon that he is probably bonded with him such a good idea. I've given him Mind Burner. But we can give it a shot. Leah do you mind helping us train our new warrior?"

"No, Dr. Longbranch. Not at all." Leah said with a smile and glance at Jay.

"Good. Where is his sword?" Longbranch asked Hunter.

"Right here." the young wizard said as he handed Jess the sword, Charger.

Jessamine then handed the sword to Jay and the second he gripped the black, leather handle the sword lit up and Jay felt power surge through him. Longbranch was amazed by the power in the boy and could tell that when his injuries were completely healed his power would be higher than this even without the Mind Burner. Before Jay knew what to do Hunter shot a huge wall of wizard flames at him. The young warrior stood in a ready stance as the fire wall roared toward him. When it was close enough to singe his hair Jay cut the flames clean in half and when Hunter and Leah shot flames at him one after another, faster and faster, Jay blocked them without breaking a sweat.

"Enough." Dr. Longbranch said, raising her hand signaling them to stop.

"You're skilled." she said to Jay."Hunter, why don't we teach him how to block a wizards graffe."

"Don't you think it's a little soon for that? After all this is his first day of training." Hunter said with a calm tone.

"He seems skilled enough. Do it."

Just before Jessamine was going to explain how to block a wizards graffe Hunter shot a very powerful and deadly wizards graffe. Jay looked dead serious not showing even a little fear at having to do something that wasn't explained to him. Just before the deadly spell was going to hit him Jay raised his sword and easily deflected it and sent it flying at Leah. The eleven year old wizard just raised a hand, and the wizards graffe hit the wall leaving a small hole. Leah glared at Jay, Hunter and Jessamine smirked they were impressed that he was able to block the wizards graffe so easily without being told how.

"That was cool; just don't aim them at me anymore." Leah said to Jay with a smile.

"Sorry about that," he replied with an apologetic smile.

Hours later Jay was lying on his back panting like a dog. Charger was lying in his open hand, his shirt had holes everywhere and it was scorched and burned so bad it stunk. Leah was sitting down with her back against the wall and she was panting as well. Hunter and Jessamine were breathing hard, but not as hard as Jay and Leah seeing as they had more experience with this, they were deep in conversation. Jay closed his eyes for a moment and thought about how hard it had been to fight and wield his sword with a cast on his left arm. Then someone laid their hand on his chest and spoke a sleeping charm and he slipped into unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 3

AN: Chapter 4 is up. No copyrite infringement intended

CHAPTER 3

The Game

Jay was running fast, his breathing even, in a dark narrow hallway. From behind a ball of wizard fire barreled towards him. The now sixteen year old warrior turned completely around without breaking stride, his sword Charger started glowing with power as the fire closed in on him. Jay was running backwards now which was a disadvantage for him because there was a wizard behind him now too. He started running towards the wizard fire and then front flipped over it. Now two walls of fire were headed towards him, fast, on each side of him.

Hunter Pinebone was at one end of the hallway and he had shot one of the fire walls. He's trapped, the wizard thought.

Jay smirked, knowing that Hunter was expecting him to surrender. Well, I'm going to do just the opposite of that, he thought.

The fire walls were starting to close the gap. The warrior ran at one of them and cut it in half then turned just as the other fire wall was going to hit him. He concentrated on created fire on his sword and when he opened his eyes Charger's blade was engulfed in blood-red flames. Power surged up and down Jay's arms. He thrust the sword at the fire wall and blew a hole through it, taking advantage of an escape route Jay jumped through the hole and continued running down the hall.

A blinding light had flashed when Jay blew a hole in the wall and Hunter had had to cover his eyes. The wizard felt cold steel touch his neck. He opened his eyes and looked into a pair of deep blue eyes.

"I win Hunter." Jay said with a smirk.

"Great job, Jay! That was faster than the last time!" Leah said as she ran down the hall in a black riding dress.

"Thanks, Leah." Jay said, sliding Charger back into its scabbard.

Hunter stood and gave Jay a nod that said good job.

Jay and Leah were headed to Jessamine's office, chatting in a friendly way. When they walked into Dr. Longbranch's office the heart surgeon had an unreadable look on her face. Jess hadn't even realized the wizard and the warrior had entered. When Jay looked closely at Jessamine's green eyes he noticed a look of despair, pain, sadness and longing.

"Hello, Dr. Longbranch." Leah said without noticing the terrible look in her mentor's eyes.

Jessamine looked up, startled. "Oh, hello you two. Have a good training session with Hunter, Jay?"

"Yes, Dr. Longbranch. Is everything ok?" he asked.

She just stared at the desk top in silence for a few moments.

"Leah. I need you to leave for a moment." she said without looking up.

Taking a quick glance at Jay, Leah left.

"Jay. The Red Rose has called a tournament. I have to play you. They wouldn't have called a tournament if they didn't know about you and if you don't enter the tournament then, in the end, they will kill you." Jessamine said looking him in the eye.

"I understand, Jessamine. I'm ready, I know I am." Jay said with a calmness that reminded Jess of the boy's father.

"Jay, you could be killed," was all Jessamine could say.

"I know. I've been training and I know that I'm ready. When is the tournament?" Jay asked.

"Tomorrow at noon. You have the rest of the night to get ready. You can go now," the heart surgeon said as she turned her chair around so the young warrior couldn't see the true emotion on her otherwise expressionless face.

"Yes, Dr. Longbranch. I'll see you tomorrow then." Jay backed out of the room and closed the door.

Jessamine was pissed off at her self. She had grown attached to the boy over the past year. Now he was a weakness to her, a flaw.

THE NEXT DAY

Hunter Pinebone was ready to see some blood shed. Not just the two warriors' blood, but the blood of Jessamine Longbranch. He had decided that if Jay was ready to fight in The Game he was ready to kill the White Rose wizard. The blood-thirsty wizard couldn't wait to see the look on Longbranch's face when her own son attacked and killed her. As he was thinking this he watched as Jessamine registered Jay for the match. A young Claude D'Orsay was staring at the Warriormaster and her young warrior with a large interest.

Jay was sitting in a chair on the side of an area where he was told he would be fighting the other warrior. The sixteen year old hadn't seen his opponent at the registry so he wasn't sure what he was up against. Jessamine was standing next to him with her arms folded and staring blankly at the sky. She had no doubt in her son's abilities but she was worried because she hadn't seen the Red Rose's warrior either. The wind blew and her white dress billowed, Jay marveled at how beautiful she was and thought about the first day he had seen her. When he first saw the White Rose's leader he wanted nothing but to protect her from anything, and he felt that way again.

Up on a balcony D'Orsay rose from his chair and instead of doing the traditional opening speech he just signaled for the warriors to begin fighting. Jess's heart pounded as she watched her son sprint off onto the huge grassy field that had been placed with magic for this match. Jay's sword was in its scabbard on his back and when he saw the other warrior he was instantly reminded of a Viking.

Oh, great, he thought. This guy is the size of an elephant.

The huge man that was facing Jay gave a smirk then rushed at him wielding a giant battle ax. Jay was just barely able to back flip and dodge the wild swings of the ax. He back flipped one more time and pulled Charger out of its scabbard at the same time. Just as the ax came down to chop him in half Jay lifted his sword and parried the swing but was thrown backward by a rough kick to the stomach. As he lay on the ground, breathless, Jessamine could just stare in dismay. The Viking-like warrior approached Jay bringing the ax up to make the killing blow. D'Orsay and Geoffrey Wylie watched with smirks on their faces as the match was about to be ended very quickly.

Just as the ax was swung down Jay rolled over on his back and brought his sword up horizontally and the ax came down hard, the blade of his sword dug into his left hand and he grimaced at the pain. His arms shaking with exertion, the sixteen year old warrior kicked up into his opponent's chest right where the diaphragm is. With all the air kicked out of him all the Red Rose warrior could do was watch in horror as his life was about to be ended.

Jay front flipped over the older warrior and brought his sword across the huge man's neck. As he landed he heard a thud behind him as the other warrior's head hit the ground then a louder thud as his body fell. Then the crowd erupted in a deafening cheer.

Jessamine stared in disbelief. She had thought for sure that her young son's life was going to end but he had pulled through and survived. Beating an opponent ten times bigger than himself in just a few minutes. Jay walked over to Jessamine and actually smiled at her. His deep blue eyes mimicked his father's when he was happy or proud.

Hunter was waiting for Jay in the young warrior's quarters. When Jay walked in he was a little startled when he saw Hunter sitting in the corner in the dark.

"We need to talk, Jay."

Jessamine was sitting in her office in her giant palace going through some paper work when Hunter entered the room along with Jay. When Jess looked up she was surprised to see Jay's sword on his back, and she wondered why he was wearing it when he didn't need it.

"Hello, Jessamine. I've come to congratulate you on training a winning warrior," Hunter said as he put a bottle of white wine on her desk.

"Thank you, Hunter. You helped train him it wasn't all my doing," she replied.

Hunter placed two wine glasses on the desk and poured the wine into them. Handing one to Jessamine, he began a toast. "To the White Rose and to your long life, Jessamine Longbranch," He drank the whole glass in just one gulp.

The surgeon took a small swig of the strong wine. Jay stood by, glaring at Dr. Longbranch. He couldn't believe that she was even thinking about killing him. He had won the fight! He won them control of the wizard council! How could she?

After Jessamine and Hunter had drunk multiple glasses of the wine Hunter glanced at Jay.

While Jess was refilling her glass Jay drew his sword and lunged at her. Hunter jumped out of the way as the warrior attempted to kill Dr. Longbranch. Jay had slammed Jessamine into the wall behind her desk and his blood was rushing. It felt good to hear a couple bones break as she had made contact with the wall. A small voice at the back of his mind was screaming at him to stop, but he couldn't.

Jessamine had no choice and before she could even think about what she was doing she drove her palm into Jay's stomach and sent an electric shock through him and he flew backwards over the desk, going straight through the thick wood doors. Sword still in hand he stood staring at the White Rose leader with pure hatred. Jess just stared back in terror and confusion. Hunter shot an immobilization spell at Jessamine and she barely dodged it.

The surgeon jumped the desk and rushed at Jay. She had to shock him and after he flew backwards again she ran up the stairs. About half way up the stairs she felt something hard hit her on the back of the neck. She fell forward and hit her head on a stair. Jay grabbed her by her neck and chucked her back down the stairs. She hit the wall at the bottom of the stairs with a sickening thud and the breath was knocked out of her. The wine was making her slow. Jess slowly slumped to the floor taking gasping breaths.

Jay walked towards her with his sword in hand. Jessamine muttered a spell under her breath and Jay felt like his insides were on fire. He dropped to his knees screaming in agony. She couldn't stand hearing him yell in pain so she stopped the charm. Jay stood up slowly, taking deep breaths and walked up to her and grabbed her by the throat and gripped hard. She used a spell to launch him up the stairs and she tried to stand but couldn't. Hunter came into the room and glared at her.

"Why are you doing this, Hunter?" she asked with a pleading tone.

"Isn't it obvious? I want the White Rose and the only way to get it is to kill you," he replied with a sneer.

Jay was standing at the top of the stairs with blood dripping down his face and soaking his shirt. Hunter knelt right in front of Jessamine with his mouth right next to her ear and one hand on her throat the other sliding down her pants, he whispered to her.

"The look on your face was priceless when you realized your own son was the one trying to kill you. How does it feel Jessamine, to have your own child try to murder you?" he said in a seductive tone.

All of a sudden Hunter flew into the wall with a loud smack. Jessamine looked to her left and saw Leah standing there with her hand raised and a deadly look in her eyes. The young girl ran over to her mother and threw her arms around her.

"Are, you, okay?" Leah asked.

"I'm fine." Jess lied.

Leah helped Jessamine to her feet and looked up as Jay came running down the stairs, sword poised for an attack. As he jumped Jessamine pushed Leah to the ground and the warrior's sword slammed down into the surgeon's shoulder. Jess grimaced and held back a scream. Jay slammed her against the wall again; he tore _Charger_ from her shoulder and placed it against her neck, the blade starting to dig into her flesh. Leah jumped up about to shout out a charm but Jessamine held up a hand to stop her.

"Don't, Leah," she said.

Hunter limped over to stand next to Jay.

"Any last words, Longbranch?" Hunter asked with a venomous tone.

"Jay, what made you do this?" she asked her son.

"Hunter told me that you were going to kill me. So we made a deal and here we are," Jay said through clenched teeth.

"What! I was never planning on killing you! I would never even think of hurting you!" she screamed.

"And why is that? I'm just a pawn in your game of power and control!"

"I'm your mother!" she screamed in is face.

The pressure from Jay's sword let up just a bit and he had a dead look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jay. I should have told you sooner. I had to give you up because I didn't want anyone to find out about you."

"Who is my father?" he asked.

"Aaron Ross. I met him while I was out scouting for warriors. One thing led to another and we ended up sleeping together and when I found out I was pregnant with you I had to leave him so no one would find out about him either. He was a warrior as well and neither of the Roses had found out about him so I intended to keep it that way but he took it the wrong way," Jessamine looked at her son with her piercing green eyes filling with tears of guilt.

Jay stood there staring at his mother.

"How touching. Last minute confessions, kill her now Jay. I tire of her," Hunter said with an annoyed tone.

Jay looked at her with dead eyes that suddenly lit up with a fire that Jessamine recognized as determination and a need for revenge. Hunter had lied to Jay and now the warrior was ready to kill. Jay lowered his sword, turned and flung himself at Hunter. His sword flashed across the deceiving wizard's throat and Hunter dropped down dead. Jay raised his sword to cut Hunter again then Jessamine lunged at her son and wrapped her arms around his torso her hands over his heart. She was pumping Persuasion into him trying to calm him down. Her chest and stomach were against his back and she immediately felt him relax. He collapsed and his sword hit the ground with a clang. He turned and embraced his mother, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry! I never knew!" he said between sobs.

"It's alright, Jay. I never should have given you up."

Jessamine felt her eyes roll back right before she passed out. Jay held her and looked at Leah pleadingly.

"We have to help her!"

An hour later Leah had ordered the servants to clean up the mess and Jessamine was healed, asleep in her bed. The warrior was sitting down in a chair next to his mother's bed and all Jay could do was look at his hands and think what kind of monster am I?


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Family Bonds

Jessamine woke up in her bed and as she stared at the ceiling she remembered what had happened with Jay and Hunter. She sat up with a jolt, letting out a little yelp when she felt stitches in her shoulder nearly tear.

"Mom?"

She looked to her right and saw Jay sitting in a chair beside her bed with dark circles under his eyes and a terrified look on his face.

"Jay?" she asked with a scratchy voice.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No. I'm not okay."

"What's wrong? I'll go get Leah she can use a healing spell. You'll be-" she cut him off.

"No, Jay. I'm not in physical pain. I hurt you and I don't know if I'll ever find a way to forgive myself," she said, looking away in shame.

"You did what you thought was best for me," he answered.

"Yes, but look where that got us yesterday. Hunter took advantage of you and you almost..." she couldn't bring herself to say it. Her own son had nearly killed her.

Jay stood and walked over to the edge of the bed and looked at Jessamine with pleading eyes. She knew what he was thinking, he wanted to apologize, and Jess could see it in his eyes.

"Jay, it's alright. I know you never would have hurt me if you had known who I was," she said.

The young warrior fell to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes. Jessamine put her legs over the side of the bed and put and arm around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. Tears were falling from her eyes as well. The surgeon could think of no where else she wanted to be right then, with her son in her arms for the first time since he was a newborn.

Jay now slept in Jessamine's palace in a room of his own. Jess worked harder than usual everyday so that she could get home faster to her children. Leah was excited to have a brother; she had grown very much attached to Jay and knew it wasn't his fault for trying to kill their mother. First of all he didn't even now that Jessamine Longbranch was his mother; secondly Hunter had taken advantage of the young warrior. That was in the past and they all chose to forget about it.

Dr. Longbranch was in her palace office when one of the servants came in and bowed.

"Someone here to see you, Mistress Longbranch," the servant said.

"Let them in," Jessamine said, without looking up from her work.

"Hello, Dr. Longbranch," a strong voice said.

Looking up again she realized that it was one of the White Rose's spies. This particular spy worked within the Red Rose and relayed information to Jess.

"What have you discovered, Zackery?" she asked.

"The Red Rose is planning on killing your warrior. In two days."

Jessamine hid her true emotions, not wanting to give anything away.

"Thank you for the information. Your pay will be coming with a bonus this week. You may go."

Dr. Longbranch had some serious planning to do.

Jessamine watched Jay tried to teach Leah how to play football. She waited for a few moments before she walked towards them.

"Jay, Leah, I have some bad news. The Red Rose is planning on killing you, Jay. But, I have an idea to make it look like someone else killed you first," she said.

"Okay. So what's the plan?" Jay asked.

"We'll use mind magic. _Everyone_ in the White Rose will be under the impression that I killed you because you went on a rampage during training. A few people will even have a memory of the event, even what your body looked like and how much blood there was."

"But, where am I going to go? I obviously can't stay here if I'm supposed to be dead."

"Well if you'd like I can send you to a college. Have you ever thought about what you want to be?"

Jay was silent for a moment while he considered what she had said.

"I want to be a heart surgeon like you." he replied.

"Alright," she said with a smile. "I'll pull a few strings at one of the colleges in Boston and you can go there."

Jessamine walked away from her children without another word.


	6. Chapter 5

PART II

CHAPTER 5

Disappearance

3 YEARS LATER

Jessamine Longbranch was sitting in a bar, wearing a low cut short sleeve shirt and tight jeans with designer boots. Her long, sleek, black hair was back in a ponytail. She was sipping at a glass of strong wine when a man with a buzz cut sat down next to her.

"Hey, Macky," the man said to the bartender. "Get my friend here something a little stronger than this wine."

Friend huh, I see where he's going with this she thought, raising an eyebrow slightly, then gave a slight smirk.

The bartender, Macky, brought Jess and buzz cut a bottle of the strongest whisky he had and buzz cut pored a shot of the whiskey for her and for himself.

"So what's your name, Miss?" he asked.

"It's Jess. Do you generally buy a girl a drink then ask her name?" she teased.

"Well no. But when I saw you I just couldn't resist."

"It's polite to give your own name."

"Trent."

About thirty minutes later Jessamine was in a dark, back hallway of the bar with Trent. He was pressing her up against the wall, their lips pressed together. His hands were on her lower back, pulling her closer to him. Trent's lips moved away from hers and down her neck, she let her head rest against the wall as he softly kissed her neck. Jess suppressed a shiver and a moan of pleasure.

"Let's go back to my place, Trent," she said as best she could.

"Alright," he said into her neck as he stopped kissing her.

Trent followed Jessamine to her white Dodge Avenger and got in the passenger seat.

"Should you be driving? You did drink quite a lot," Trent asked.

"I'll be fine," she said, starting the car and revving the engine.

When Jess and Trent reached the front door of her home his eyes widened.

"You have a huge house," he said in a small voice.

"Inheritance," she replied, grimly.

They went up to her bedroom and she tore his shirt from his shoulders once the door was shut. They ripped each others clothes off quickly and she shoved him onto the bed then straddled him. Without warning she moved down onto him and rocked her hips against his with a slow rhythmic motion.

Jessamine collapsed onto Trent's chest, trying to catch her breath, completely exhausted. Trent wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep. She rolled off of him, not wanting to fall asleep in his arms. The surgeon got under the sheets, her last thought before she fell asleep was: I will never fall asleep in another man's arms ever again. There's only one man that that happened with and that's how it's going to stay.

The next morning Jess woke up before Trent and got dressed. Before she left for work she told the servants to make Trent some breakfast then 'politely' show him the door.

A fifteen year old Leah woke up and was headed towards the stairs but stopped when she realized her mother's door was open and in her mother's bed was a man she had never seen before.

Oh great, she thought. Mom had one of _those_ nights again.

Leah went down to the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. A few minutes later the man that was in Jessamine's bed walked down the stairs wearing boxers, _just_ boxers. The young wizard stared at him in interest, he was quite good looking, and she could see why her mom had gone for this guy.

When Trent walked into the dining room he thought the girl sitting at one end of the table was Jess, but a closer look told him she wasn't the woman he had slept with the night before.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"It's polite to give one's name before asking another's," she replied.

"Trent."

"I'm Leah."

"Why are you here," he asked sitting down.

"I'm Jessamine's sister. I don't have to ask why you're here; my sister has a lot of one night stands so don't expect to stay long."

"Wait, wha-" he was cut short by one of the servants.

"Mistress Jessamine has asked us to make breakfast for you. When you are finished eating you must leave."

"See? I told you," Leah said with a smile.

Trent just stared at her with a confused look in his eyes.

"She does this a lot, like I said."

Jess was sitting at her desk in her medical practice office when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," she said as she kept writing things in different patient files.

"Hello, Jessamine."

That voice, she thought. The White Rose leader had frozen stiff and her blood ran cold as ice. She looked up slowly to see a young male wizard with sandy blond hair and ice blue eyes that seemed colder than ever.

'"Remember me?" he said with an evil smirk.

"Hunter Pinebone," she said standing up.

Her fists were clenched so tight that her knuckles were white. Before she could react Hunter hit her with an immobilization spell and caught her before she could hit the floor.

2 DAYS LATER

Jay was in his dorm room working on homework when his roommate walked in.

"Hey dude there's a really hot girl here to see you."

Jay had a confused look on his face. He turned around in the chair he was sitting on and his breath caught for a moment.

Leah Longbranch.

Jay quickly stood up and pushed his roommate out and slammed the door shut, afterwards locking it.

"What are you doing here, Leah, we're not supposed to have anything to do with each other. Mom's gonna kill us if she finds out," he said.

"That's the thing, Jay. Someone took her, I was given this a day ago," Leah said, handing him an envelope.

Jay opened the envelope and pulled out a small card.

Leah,

If you want to see your dear mother again, alive, then follow my instructions.

1. Tell only one other person about this, Jay.

2. Find him and give him this.

3. After Jay reads this return to London along with him and wait for further instructions.

Signed,

An Old Friend

"We have to get to London as fast as we can!"

Jay and Leah were flying down the streets of London in a Black Audi R8 at over 160 MPH. They got to Jessamine's palace and there was another envelope taped to the front door. Jay pulled it off the door and opened it.

Jay and Leah,

If you're reading this then you followed my instructions. To get your mother back, you only have to do one simple task: Fight in the Game. But this is no ordinary Game no it's not like the one you fought in three years ago Jay. You will have to kill me. Leah is allowed to help you. If you agree to this simple task then come to Raven's Ghyll in two days.

Signed,

An Old Friend

"We have to go," Jay said to Leah.

"Of course," she replied.

"I want to know who this _'Old Friend' _is," he said through clenched teeth.


	7. Chapter 6

Warning: this has a rape scene... so if you don't like rape scenes don't read any farther, just skip this chapter but I will say this chapter plays an important part in the story (it's not a terrible one cus I can definately say I have read worse)

CHAPTER 6

Two Days

Jessamine woke up three days after being kidnapped by Hunter. She had an enormous headache. When she tried to move her arms she realized that she was chained to the wall and hanging at least three feet from the floor. This was _just_ great she was hanging from a wall by chains with a huge migraine and she was completely vulnerable to Hunter. She also realized that she was wearing a white dress that she hadn't been wearing before; the dress was torn and dirty.

The door to the cell opened and Hunter himself walked in.

"Well, Dr. Longbranch I have some good news for you. Both your children are now in London deciding whether or not they should rescue their whore of a mother. If they do make the stupid decision to try and save you, they should be here in two days. Oh, wait that's not good news for you! That's good news for me because if they come then I can kill them both and save myself the trouble of trying to track them down."

"Fuck you, Hunter," Jess said through clenched teeth.

"Oh come on now. That's no way to talk to me," he said stepping right in front of her. "After all I did fa-"

Before he could finish the sentence she spat in his face.

The calm look he wore changed to one of pure fury. He snapped his fingers and the chain cuffs around her wrists clicked open and she fell to the floor. Hunter grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her upward to her feet. The enraged wizard wrapped a hand around her throat and forced her mouth open. He took a bottle out of a pocket in his jacket, took the lid off the bottle and forced the liquid down Jess's throat.

She instantly felt as if her weirstone had gone out, and she knew why, the liquid he had made her to swallow was Weirsbane. Weirsbane was a medication that dulled or even completely stopped the powers of a weirstone for a certain amount of time. Hunter let her drop to the floor again then adjusted the height of the chains. Once they were lowered he clamped the cuffs shut over her wrists again. She was so weak that she couldn't even stand, her senses were dull. But they shot alive again as she realized what Hunter was doing. He was lifting the bottom of her dress up above her waist and pulling her underwear down to her knees.

"People who disrespect me get punished, keep that in mind, Jessamine," he whispered, his mouth right next to her ear and hands on her waist.

Jess was hanging limp by her wrists from the chains on the wall. Hunter had left moments ago. She had willed herself not to cry in front of him but now that he was gone she let loose. The White Rose leader sobbed as she remembered what Hunter had done to her.

_"Please stop!" Jessamine screamed at him._

_"I don't see why you have a problem with me now when fifteen years ago you had no regrets sleeping with me," he grunted._

_"AAAGH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs._

_With each hard deep thrust she let out a scream and with each thrust she felt the stones sticking out of the wall digging deep into her back, drawing blood. She could feel the warm blood trickling down her back and legs._

_Hunter was hurting her and he knew that._

Jessamine stared at the floor tears rolling down her cheeks. He had given her Weirsbane, and chained her to the wall. There was nothing she could have done to protect herself. She felt so violated.

THE NEXT DAY

Jessamine barely got any sleep and she was starving. She had lost track of time and didn't know how long it had been since Hunter had left her cell. Then right at that moment Hunter entered the room again. Jess glared at him, she would never forgive him for what he had done.

"Are you ready to play nicely now?" he asked.

"You bastard, how could you do that to me?" she yelled.

"I see you're not going to be polite."

He snapped his fingers and she fell to the floor then he snapped his fingers again and a tray of food with a glass of water appeared in front of her.

"Well you might as well eat. It will do your kids no good if they come here and you're already dead."

She wolfed down the food and gulped the water down as well. When she was done she just pushed the tray towards him.

"What? Not even a thank you?"

He grabbed her by the throat and dragged her into the middle of the room. This time he pulled her dress and underwear completely off.

"Wait! No plea-" Hunter cut her pleading short by slapping her across the face.

Then he straddled her. She tried to slap him but he caught her by the wrist and held her arms down.

"Now we can't have you cutting this short by trying to hurt me."

He used a spell on her feet and hands, an invisible bonds charm. When she tried to use the counter spell she realized it didn't even feel like she had a weirstone anymore. He must have slipped Weirsbane into her food and water. Motherfucker.

With his mouth right next to Jessamine's ear, Hunter whispered seductively, "You still haven't learned, if you hit I hit back."

Jessamine let out a scream full of agony as he pushed roughly into her.

Jess lay in the corner broken, bleeding, and naked. It had to be past midnight, he had raped her once in the morning left then came back and raped her seven more times. The walls floor and ceiling were all made of rough stone and every time he pushed into her the stones cut into her bare back, the back of her legs and arms as well and left huge gashes. He raped her so many times that he pushed her over the edge to her breaking point. She didn't feel like the revered Jessamine Longbranch; feared, ruthless, leader of the White Rose. No, now she was _just_ Jessamine Longbranch, broken woman with only one hope of never having to have that happen to her again. Her son and daughter.

Please Jay, Leah, please come, she thought. I don't know how much more of this I'll be able to take.


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Hunter's Game

Jay and Leah were climbing into his Black Audi and heading to Raven's Ghyll, both of them hoping their mother was okay and wondering who it was that took her. The two siblings silently vowed that they would make the person that had taken their mother suffer and die a slow and painful death. When they reached an area where the car couldn't go they got out and started hiking to Raven's Ghyll. They would rescue Jessamine at any cost, even if that cost was their lives.

EARLIER THAT MORNING

Jessamine was curled up in the corner staring into nothingness. Hunter walked in and she glared at him with a look so full of hate that on the inside he was a little scared; not that he was going to show it of course. He walked over to Longbranch and grabbed her by the throat. Looking into her green eyes he realized that they were unusually dull, he smirked.

"Well, well, well. It looks as if I've finally broken you. You're not the feared leader of the White Rose that I remember, no not anymore. Not after what I've done to you," he said, smirking and laughing.

Jess mustered what strength she could and slapped him _**hard**_ across the face. His smirk faded and he stopped laughing.

Sighing, he stood up (she had to stand as well seeing as his hand was still on her throat).

"Your so predictable, Jess," he said.

"Why-"

He cut her short, slamming her head into the stone wall. The cracking sound that had echoed around the room was sickening even for him. Hunter hadn't knocked her out but he had dazed her. When he looked into her eyes again he realized one of her pupils was dilated. Perfect, he thought with a grin, she has a concussion and I almost split her head open. She stared at him with pure hatred again.

"Do you have something to say to me?" he asked with a smirk.

"Fuck you!"

He frowned, it seemed like she was determined to make him angry.

"You just won't learn will you-" This time she cut him short with a punch to the jaw.

His calm look once again turned to one of pure hatred and loathing. He made her swallow more Weirsbane and pushed her up against the wall, his body pressing into hers.

"Did you forget already? If you hit I hit back," he said with a venomous tone.

After one last hard deep thrust he let go of her throat and pushed away from her. She slumped to the floor. Hunter realized that she looked dead and broken.

"I'll be back later, Jess."

"_**Fuck**_ you," she rasped in a quiet voice.

He glared at her.

"I guess I'll just have to teach you another lesson," he said as he got on top of her.

She tried to push him away but she had no strength left. As her body arched up into his she screamed in agony.

Jay and Leah were standing in a lobby-like room waiting for _'An Old Friend'. _

"I wonder how this person got permission to u-" Jay was cut off by a long, drawn out scream. He instinctively drew his sword, _Charger_, standing in a ready position.

"Jay that was mom!" Leah said gripping his arm.

"Come on!" Jay said as he started running towards the scream. A door a few feet in front of them opened to reveal a young male wizard with sandy blond hair and ice blue eyes. Leah and Jay skidded to a stop when they saw the wizard come out of the room where the scream had come from.

"Hunter!" Jay and Leah yelled at the same time.

"How good of you to come, would you like to see your mother? I'm sure she'll be very excited to see her children again," Hunter said with a smirk.

Hunter opened the door he had just come out of and gestured for them to go in.

Jessamine looked up when the door opened.

"What the fuck do you want now you bastard? Haven't you done enou-" she stopped short when she realized it was her children standing in the doorway.

"Mom!" Jay lunged forward to wrap her in a hug but just before he reached her he was thrown into the stone wall.

"HUNTER! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Jess yelled.

Jay stood, picked up his sword, and lunged at Hunter and as Jay ran at him, Hunter yelled.

"Let the Games begin!"

Jay kept lunging at Hunter trying to cut him or even punch him; anything just so that Jay could kill the wizard that harmed his mother.

"I'm going to kill you, Hunter!" Jay yelled.

"I'd like to see you try! Oh, wait that's what your doing right now, well I must say I'm disappointed. You're not trying very hard are you?" Hunter said mocking and teasing the young warrior. But teasing him wasn't working to his advantage; it was just pissing Jay off.

Then Hunter stumbled forward when he felt something hit him in the center of his back. Extending his has arm, he pushed an air current towards Jay and sent the warrior flying down the hallway. When he turned Leah was standing there glaring at him, looking much like her mother. Hunter felt his power dwindling and he knew he had been hit with a wizards graffe.

He launched a wizards graffe at Leah, she jumped aside, dodging the deadly spell, but he caught her off guard and shot an immobilization charm at her. Jess watched as the spell hit her daughter and the young girl hit the floor with a sickening thud. The White Rose leader felt tears running down her face and she tried to get up and help Leah but she was still weak from what Hunter had done to her. All the surgeon could do was lie on the floor and watch as Hunter approached Leah.

Jess closed her eyes and opened them when Hunter started screaming in pain. Jay had sneaked up on Hunter and stabbed him in the stomach with his sword. Then after Jay pulled the sword free, Hunter turned and embedded a knife in Jay's chest. Her son coughed up blood and slumped down a little. When Hunter stabbed Jay with the knife Jessamine had screamed in dismay. Jessamine formed a strong, deadly wizards graffe in her hand and shot it at the wound on Hunter's stomach. When it hit him he turned and looked at Jess with a look of deep loathing and hatred and she returned the look. Then Hunter fell over dead.

Jessamine slumped against the wall, the stones digging into her arm and bare back. Jay ran over to Leah and when she didn't get up he glanced over at his mother and asked her what was wrong with his sister.

"She's been immobilized," Jessamine said, gasping for breath.

Longbranch muttered the counter spell and Leah was unimmobilized. When Leah stood up she quickly healed the cut on Jay's chest, then Jess fell over onto the floor with a thud, unconscious, Jay and Leah ran to their mother. Jay kneeled down next to her and picked her up (the way the groom carries his bride).

"Leah, we need to get Mom home. She doesn't look good," Jay said, running towards the hiking trail out of Raven's Ghyll.

When they got to the Audi Leah snapped her fingers and a big warm blanket appeared in her hand. Jay wrapped Jess in the blanket, and then froze.

"What is it, Jay?" Leah asked.

"Hunter," Jay said, quietly with wide eyes.

Leah turned and saw the wizard that had helped Jessamine train her most of her young life. Hunter was smirking at them with a clenched fist held out in front of him. He unclenched his fist and green wizard flame erupted on his palm. Jay was still in pain from the healed cut on his chest, but the determined warrior wouldn't let a little bit of pain stop him from killing Hunter once and for all.

"Leah, get Mom in the car then drive home as fast as you can," Jay said, pulling _Charger_ out of its scabbard, his deep blue eyes ablaze.

"I'll put her in the car but I'm not leaving without you, Jay," Leah said sternly.

"Just do it, Leah," he said first to his sister then to Hunter. "I'm going to rip you apart!"

"Oh, really," Hunter choked out.

Jay ran at the wizard at top speed, letting his anger and hatred fuel his adrenaline. Just before reaching Hunter, the warrior jumped, front flipped and brought his sword down hard. Hunter let out a cry of pain but so did Jay. Jay landed on the ground on his stomach and Hunter was clutching at his left arm, blood streaming down it from a cut that went down to the bone. He had barely been able to move out of the way but he still got hit by that stupid sword. Leah ran to her brother and helped him up.

"What did he do to you?" she asked.

"He got me with wizard flame, it's not bad though," Jay replied, picking his sword up off the ground.

Jessamine's daughter was pissed now; Hunter had hurt her mother and now her brother (again). The young girl ran at her enemy with wizard flame in one hand and a wizard's graffe in the other. She shot the flames first and when Hunter just made them bounce off his fist in a random direction she shot the wizard's graffe but he just rebounded that back at her. Leah had just barely dodged the graffe when Hunter had made her fly backwards into a tree.

"Leah!" Jay yelled in anger.

Just as he was about to launch himself at Hunter his sister spoke up.

"Jay, we need to attack him as one. You use the flames from your sword and I'll use some wizard's graffes."

He just nodded.

Jay closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them there were blood red flames on the blade of his sword. Leah concentrated and formed a wizard's graffe in each hand. Then at the same time the two siblings ran at their enemy. The warrior ran straight at Hunter and Leah veered to the left. When Jay got close enough Hunter put a charge in his knuckles and punched Jay square in the jaw. The young warrior's head snapped to the side but he only stopped for a second, not long enough for the wizard to do anything.

Jay jumped at him and his sword flashed across his enemy's chest. At the same time Leah shot one of the wizard's graffes and missed by inches. The wizard's graffe had distracted Hunter long enough so that Jay could get closer and when he did he grabbed Hunter by the throat and ran _Charger_ clean through the wizard's stomach (again).

"Leah! Shoot the graffe! Now!" Jay yelled.

Leah shot the graffe and it hit where Jay's sword was sticking out of Hunter's back. But it wasn't strong enough; Hunter wrapped his hand around Jay's throat and slammed him into a tree hard enough to splinter the bark. A split second later Hunter felt a _**very strong **_wizard's graffe strike him in the same spot as before. He turned his head to look at Leah but what he saw surprised him. Leah's right hand was open and aimed at Hunter but she wasn't looking at who she had just hit with an unexpected wizard's graffe. She was looking down with wide eyes at Jessamine Longbranch on her stomach with her arm outstretched and a hand wrapped around Leah's ankle. Just as he took his hand off of Jay's throat he felt his heart stop then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went limp; he was dead (for sure this time).

Jay saw his mother's head hit the forest floor and he thought she was dead for a moment but a closer look and he could tell she was breathing, but very shallow. He ran over to her and wrapped the blanket around her again and Jay stood up carrying her. Then he realized something, his car had no back seat.

"Leah, we have an issue," he said.

"Oh, great! What now!" she yelled, obviously annoyed.

"My car doesn't have a back seat."

"I-" she stopped for a moment.

"Well one of us going to have to hold her," Leah said.

"Why don't you... It would just be awkward if I did. I mean she has no clothes on and she's only wrapped in a blanket. It'd be weird!"

"Yeah, but you're stronger than me."

"Fine," he said grumpily. "But you're gonna have to drive really fast. I don't know how much longer Mom will be alive for," Jay said climbing into the passenger seat, with his mother on his lap.

Leah got in the driver's seat and started the car.

"Oh, and Leah?"

"What?"

"Don't wreck my car."


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Family Matters

Jessamine woke up extremely sore, and in strong arms. For a moment she thought that the past five days had all been a really bad dream. A nightmare to be exact, but she knew in her heart that she hadn't dreamt the vile things that had happened to her at Hunter's hand. Jess looked up and realized it was her son holding her in his strong and reassuring arms. Her son's usually strong and steady gaze was alive with hatred, worry and something else she was confused about. Was he... embarrassed? Then her eyes widened and she figured she knew why he was embarrassed, she was naked, and wrapped in a blanket, curled up on his lap. She knew she would be embarrassed if she was in his place in a situation like this. The surgeon closed her eyes and concentrated on her son's mind.

Please, Dear God, please! I'm begging you! Let her live! I couldn't live with myself if we weren't able to save her in time!

She pulled out of his thoughts, she didn't know he cared for her this much.

Jay felt his mother's body tense up and when he looked down at her he realized she was awake, but then her eyes drooped shut and Jessamine was unconscious again.

"Hurry up, Leah!" he shouted.

"I'm trying! Why don't you try driving before you even have a license!" she shouted back.

"I did drive before I had my license! Now drive faster!"

"FINE!"

Leah slammed her foot on the gas and pushed the expensive sports car to its full speed.

When they reached Jessamine's palace, Leah looked her mother over and found huge cuts and gashes on their mother's back, arms and legs. Some were badly infected and other were fresh, looked like the skin had just been broken that day. When she had finished examining their mother Leah snapped her manicured fingers and silk pajamas had appeared on Jess. Jay carried his mother up to her bedroom and laid her on the bed. The young son pulled a chair up a couple of feet from the bed and rested his head on the back of the chair. His eyes fluttered closed and he slept.

Jay woke up with a start, he felt like someone was watching him. He looked at his mother first to see if she was awake but her eyes were closed and she was asleep. Then he looked around the room and noticed his sister asleep in a chair by the door, her breathing even. The young warrior just couldn't understand why he had felt like someone was watching, for a moment he thought it could be one of the servants had looked into the room for a second but that couldn't have been it, the bedroom door was closed. He glanced at the clock, 2:30 AM, so there was another reason it couldn't have been one of the servants, they weren't allowed upstairs, only when Jessamine needed something done up there. But they were never allowed up stairs at this time of night.

Weird, Jay thought, laying his head back again and drifting into sleep.

Whew, Jess thought just after her son's head went back, that took a lot out of me. The effect of the Weirsbane probably hasn't worn off just yet. Jessamine had been poking around in Jay's mind again, and his panic had spread to her for a moment. Huh, she knew how he felt. Her first few days as leader of the White Rose she was constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting for someone to jump out of the shadows and claim her life. Longbranch had become leader when she was only twenty and that was a lot of responsibility for someone as young as her at the time.

Jessamine closed her eyes and drifted into a memory.

_Jessamine Longbranch stared at her mother's dead body. Kaitlynn Longbranch was never coming back. Jess looked over at her father who was standing with a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, who was flirting with him, wearing a low cut black dress. _

_ Jessamine didn't know who the woman was and she didn't care either. What Jamison Longbranch did was none of her business. The seven year old little girl didn't think she would be able to go on with life, not without her mother._

_ After the funeral Jessamine and her father returned to their huge palace on the banks of the Thames River. The woman who had been flirting with Jamison had come with as well. Jessamine just went straight to her room and collapsed onto the bed and began bawling. _

_ After crying for about an hour her bedroom door opened to reveal her father looking quite upset._

_ "Jessamine, what's the matter?" he asked, with a slur to his voice._

_ "I miss Mommy!" she wailed._

_ Her father snapped and with the way he was reacting Jess knew he had been into his bottle of whiskey, maybe a little too much, "Well, you need to fucking grow up! She's never coming back and you know that! CRYING WON'T SOLVE ANYTHING!" _

_ Jess just stared at her father wondering why he was screaming at her when all she was doing was grieving for her dead mother._

_ "GROW UP, JESSAMINE!"_

_ The young girl just stared at the floor, more tears welling up in her eyes._

_ "You know what… I know just the thing to help you grow up. You start serious wizard training. Tomorrow," Jamison slammed the door behind him. _

_ "I'll make you proud, Mommy," Jessamine whispered under her breath before falling asleep._

_ 1 ½ Years Later_

_ 8 ½ year old Jessamine stood in the rose gardens in her back yard staring up at the stars looking for her mother's star. She found it and just stared at it. She would spend ten minutes staring at the star every night before she began practicing spells._

_ Jess took a deep breath and let it out as she muttered the words for the spell under her breath. Her favorite spell that she had created was just a simple immobilization spell with a kick to it. You weren't completely immobilized but if you moved at all it would feel as if your veins were being eaten away by acid from the inside out. And, this was what actually was happening. _

_ "Jessamine," Falicia said from behind her._

_ "What," Jess said rudely, not turning around to look her step mother in the face._

_ "Your father needs to see you in his office."_

_ "Whatever," the young wizard brushed passed Falicia and into the palace._

_ When she walked into her father's office he was standing in front of the fire looking up at a picture of him and her mother that had been painted by the best artist in England. He had a pained expression on his handsome face._

_ "Yes, Father?" she asked._

_ "Your mentor is here along with two more wizards. The four of you are to infiltrate the Red Rose headquarters and get all the Intel that you can," he said, taking a sip of whiskey._

_ "Alright," she replied._

_ Not even a good luck or kiss my ass._

_ Later that night Jessamine ran along side her best friend who was eight years older than her. Natalie was sixteen and very close to becoming a full member of the White Rose seeing as she was close to the end of her training. This would probably be her last mission before earning her place._

_ The two girls had obtained the Intel and were running for their lives; trying to escape from the Red Rose HQ. All of a sudden Jess ended up flat on her face. Something or someone had tripped her. Her friend skidded to a stop and turned to help Jessamine up but someone grabbed the sixteen year old from behind. Then someone grabbed Jess from behind and lifted her to her feet._

_ Jess and her friend were dragged into a small room. The door was shut and locked behind them. A Red Rose wizard pushed Natalie up against the wall and gave her a pat down. Jessamine had been forced down onto her stomach._

_ "Better give her a strip search just to make sure," the man holding her down said._

_ Natalie's clothes were ripped from her body._

_ "Man you sure are a pretty girl aren't you?" the Red Rose wizard that was searching her said with a silky tone._

_ "She could actually be of some use to us. This one's to young though," the man holding Jess down said, pushing her head against the floor even harder._

_ "We might as well kill her."_

_ "No! Leave her alone! Do whatever you want to me just leave Jessamine alone," Natalie said._

_ "Sounds good to me," the other man said._

_ The wizard holding Jess down immobilized her so that she was forced to watch what was being done to her friend. The only thing Jessamine could do was talk, blink, and breathe._

_ "No, Natalie! Don't do this! Not for me, you were going to become a full fledged wizard after this mission!" Jessamine wailed. _

_ "It's okay Jess, I know what I'm doing," Natalie replied smiling at her._

_ "I'm gonna fuck you up, little girl," one of the men said._

_ Natalie screamed at the top of her lungs as the two men forced them selves on her one at a time, over and over again._

_ The door was broken down and Jessamine's and Natalie's mentors burst in and killed the two Red Rose wizards._

_ Jess's mentor carried her out of the Red Rose HQ as fast as his legs would carry him. When they reached the Longbranch family palace, her mentor and father worked together to heal Natalie. Falicia had laughed when she heard about what happened. Jessamine had come within an inch of beating the woman to death._

_ "Nelson, will Natalie be okay?" Jess asked her mentor when he finished healing Natalie._

_ "She'll be fine physically, Jess, but I don't know about mentally and emotionally."_

_ Jessamine looked at the floor with sad eyes._

_ "I could have helped her and I didn't."_

_ "Jessamine, there was nothing you could have done. You were immobilized. Natalie said that they were going to kill you. Your best friend was willing to take the fall so you could survive," Nelson said, kneeling in front of her with his hands on her shoulders in a comforting gesture._

_ 6 Years Later_

_ A fourteen year old Jessamine was just crawling into bed when she heard her father's footsteps coming up the marvelous staircase. The door opened just as her eyes were closing as she drifted into half sleep. Then, her eyes still closed, she felt him sit down on the edge of her bed. Jamison's warm hand softly stroked her cheek. _

_ Jess let out a sigh. It had been awhile since her father even treated her as if she existed at all. Just then, as his hand slid from her cheek to her shoulder which was under the covers, she caught the stench of whiskey on his breath. Jamison gently used the hand on her shoulder to push her from her side onto her back. His whiskey tainted breath wafted across her neck._

_ Jessamine's heart skipped a beat as his lips lightly brushed against the crook of her neck. Her eyes flew wide open, as his lips moved up to hers and he tilted her head back enough that her lips parted. His tongue brushed the roof of her mouth. This couldn't be her father._

_ A father wouldn't kiss his daughter this way. Or be touching her the way he was. His hand had slid up her shirt to her breasts rubbing them gently. He broke the kiss to unbutton her shirt._

_ "Father," Jess said, her breathing ragged._

_ Jamison silenced her with another kiss that once again she didn't think was right for a father and his daughter._

_ Almost as if he had shared her thought his eyes snapped open and he crawled off of her bed and rushed out the door slamming it shut behind him. Jessamine realized she had been holding her breath as she released it when she heard her father's footsteps walk up the hallway to the master bedroom, his and Falicia's bedroom. _

_ Jess fell into a fitful sleep._

_ The Next Night_

_ Jessamine was sitting at the huge dining table by herself, poking at her dinner. She didn't want to eat, because she would just throw it up. That morning she had eaten a wonderful breakfast when the memories of the night before flashed into her head and she couldn't keep her food down. The fourteen year old hadn't seen her father or step-mother all day long. Just then Falicia walked in and gave her a funny look then said._

_ "Your father wants to see you in his office."_

_ Jess stood and walked into the beautiful office and instantly caught the scent of liquor. When she looked around she saw a bottle of whiskey on the desk and her father standing over it with his back to her. Jamison poured a glass and offered it to his daughter._

_ "I figure you'll need it, you've seem stressed out lately. One of your last assessments is coming up so I can understand why," he said, throwing back a shot of scotch._

_ Jessamine took the glass without really thinking it through and quickly gulped it down. It was painful to swallow, burning all the way down her throat, but she instantly felt her mind go cloudy and all her fears and things she was stressing about seemed to just float away. She had two more glasses before she got to the point where she was slurring her words and she couldn't stand up straight._

_ Jessamine Longbranch was drunk for the first time in her life and she was only fourteen years old. _

_ She closed her eyes for a couple seconds; her head swam and she was afraid all the liquor she had just drunk was going to end up on the carpet._

_ Jamison wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his chest. She opened her blazing green eyes and looked him in the eye. His breath caught._

_ Those are Kaitlynn's eyes, he thought._

_ He kissed Jessamine, hard, not softly like the last time. Jamison ripped her shirt open and unlatched the bra, both falling to the floor._

_ Jessamine wasn't fighting back, because she was so drunk she really couldn't comprehend what was going on. He pushed her over to the large pinewood desk. Jamison swept his arm across it, knocking everything on top of it to the floor._

_ Her father sat her on the edge of the desk and kissed her deeply again. Jess didn't try to fight back until she felt his hand slide into her pants and touch her where no father should ever even think of touching his daughter._

_ "Sto-"a soft moan stopped her protest dead in its tracks._

_ Jessamine's breathing and heart rate got faster. It felt strange; no one had ever touched her this way before. But again alarm bells sounded in her head. This wasn't right._

_ His free hand undid the button and zipper of her jeans. Jamison quickly undid his own pants and his slacks and underwear fell to his ankles. Then he pulled his daughter's pants and underwear to her knees. He pushed her onto her back, her legs hanging off the edge of the desk._

_ Jessamine clamped her legs together, knowing what was going to happen and that it was no where near okay. His warm hand slipped between her legs again; causing her to moan again, louder this time, and her legs, as if they had a mind of their own, spread apart allowing her father access to something he shouldn't have._

_ Jamison pushed into her and she gave a small scream, her nails digging into the polished pinewood desk. _

_ "Please, stop," Jessamine pleaded quietly, tears rolling down her cheeks._

_ Her mind was still swimming from the whiskey but it felt as if she had had only a sip of the strong alcohol. _

_ It hurt, a lot, but strangely there was an odd mix of pleasure as well. Jamison pushed his body flat against hers and whispered in her ear._

_ "You look just like your mother."_

_ He stopped any movement for just the slightest second then he began moving with faster, harder, and deeper thrusts that were hurting her beyond imagination but yet again there was more pleasure than was imaginable to mix with the pain._

_ Jamison pulled out of her and Jess gave another small scream and just lay on top of the desk, clueless as to what was going to happen next. _

_ Her father pulled his pants back up and did up his belt then he snapped his fingers and her shirt and bra were back on but her pants were still around her knees. She sat up shakily and pulled her jeans and underwear back up and stood to leave the office._

_ Jamison grabbed her by the arm hard enough to leave red marks._

_ "You leave when I say you do," he growled, as he flattened her against the wall, his face just inches from hers._

_ "You are your mother's daughter and you're more like her than anyone I know. To live up to your mother's reputation you have to be more like her. So why not start here," he hissed hungrily in her ear._

_ He tore her pants and underwear from her waist down to her ankles and unzipped his own pants, not bothering to even take them off. Jamison slid his hands around to her butt and picked her up, carrying her to the chair behind the desk. He sat down in the chair and made it so her knees were on either side of his waist._

_ Then he pulled her down onto him and the pained expression on her young face mixed with the moan that escaped her lips left him hungrier for more._

_ With his hands still on her butt he coaxed her to move up and down. She would move down just as he moved up. Once they started going faster Jessamine let out screams of pain/pleasure with each thrust. Jamison stopped moving and she tried to as well but he kept his hands on her rear, to keep her moving. She collapsed onto him nearly unconscious and looking ready to throw up. He let her climb off of him and she did up her pants while he did up his._

_ "You may leave," he said, with is back to her as he stared at the picture of himself and his dead wife._

_ Jessamine climbed into her bed and cried. The main reason she had tried to stop when he did was because she noticed the painting of her mother on the wall and felt ashamed of herself. The young Longbranch cried herself to sleep that night._

_ Jessamine Longbranch had slept with someone for the first time. She was only fourteen years old and what's worse is that it was her father that took her purity from her._

_ 1 Year later_

_ Jessamine sat before her father tapping her fingers, waiting for him to say something. Waiting for him to do something even. Normally when she got in trouble for something the punishment would be a night in the office with him. Every now and then her mind would wander back to that first night in her father's office. The more she thought about it the more she hated him for it. Being a wizard it wouldn't have been that hard to confront him about it but… The more she thought about it the more she realized that she kind of enjoyed it. It was only because her father was finally paying attention to her. But to Jessamine any attention from her father was wanted and accepted, even if it wasn't the kind of attention a father should be giving to his daughter._

_ When he finally did speak it wasn't something she wanted to hear._

_ "You fucked up pretty badly on your last mission. But, our kind and gracious leader has decided of a way for you to prove your loyalty to the White Rose."_

_ "How did one small screw up make him think that I'm not loyal to the White Rose? I always have been and always will be," Jess said with a famous Longbranch scowl._

_ "It doesn't matter how, the only thing that matters is that he is letting you redeem yourself."_

_ "I'm guessing your bitch of a wife had something to do with the fact that he thought I was being disloyal."_

_ Jamison slapped his daughter across the face, hard enough that her head snapped to the side, leaving a red mark on her cheek. He stuck his finger in her face._

_ "You are to never speak about Falicia that way. She is your step mother and she deserves your respect," he hissed in a menacing tone. For a moment she was afraid he was going to drop his and her pants right there. But she gathered her courage._

_ Jessamine turned her head to look at him and replied in an even more venomous tone. _

_ "She is not, my, mother."_

_ "Why don't you let me talk to her, Jamison?"_

_ Jess looked over her shoulder and her brow furrowed in anger at who was standing in the doorway to her father's office. _

_ Jamison left the room without a word. Jessamine stood up to leave, but Falicia grabbed her by the arm, instantly reminding Jess of the night that she lost her innocence to her own father._

_ "And, just where do you think you're going, Jessamine?"_

_ "Anywhere but here; as long as it's someplace far away from you."_

_ "I don't think so. Sit down," Falicia said pushing the fifteen year old back into her chair._

_ "Your father is right. I do deserve your respect, especially because I made the White Rose leader re-consider executing you for treason."_

_ "Oh, really? And, just how did you do that? Did you seduce him, have sex with him and talk him into not killing me?"_

_ Falicia smirked._

_ "You know me better than you should, Jessamine Longbranch."_

_ "Wow, how low can you get? So why did you talk him out of killing me. It would save you the trouble of having to do it yourself."_

_ "I only talked him out of it because your father would have no one to get angry at. And, I like him better when he's pissed."_

_ "Hooker," Jessamine muttered, looking away from Falicia._

_ "Oh, don't act as if you're innocent, Jessamine. You're just as bad as me."_

_ "What are you getting at?" she said with narrowed eyes._

_ "You slept with your mentor. It was all over in your thoughts and surprisingly his as well," Falicia said in a whisper, with a smirk._

_ Jessamine's eyes widened and she stared at the floor in shock. If her father found out about this she was dead. He had been very strict about the no boyfriend rule. And Jess could tell that there was an unspoken rule: her father would be the only one sleeping with her._

_ "So how was it? Oh, my, you're a naughty little girl Jessamine Longbranch," Falicia said, reading Jess's thoughts. "Based on your thoughts I think, no I know, you really enjoyed it."_

_ Jess didn't reply._

_ "Was it rough or gentle?" Falicia whispered._

_ The fifteen year old clenched her fists and squirmed in her seat at the memory._

_ "Rough huh? So it wasn't your first go round at this either. And don't look so surprised, I know about what goes on between you and your father in this office," Falicia said with a triumphant smirk_

_ "You, know I wonder what everyone in the White Rose will think when they hear about this? The great Jamison Longbranch's daughter having sex with her own mentor."_

_ "What the fuck do you want?" Jessamine yelled, standing up and facing her step mother._

_ Jessamine Longbranch's intimidating green eyes stared into Falicia's cold blue ones._

_ "Accomplish the two missions that our leader as given you and I won't tell what you did," Falicia replied._

_ "What are they?" Jess asked through clenched teeth._

_ "The first is to kill Natalie Pinebone and the second is to kill the Hanson family. Two parents and their five year old daughter," Falicia said._

_ "No. I'm not killing Natalie."_

_ "Pity, it seems I'll need to discuss a certain someone and a certain act with your father," she said turning to leave._

_ "No! Wait!"_

_ "Hm?" Falicia turned around._

_ "Fine, I'll do it. I'll kill Natalie."_

_ "Good girl. Oh, and Jessamine?"_

_ "What?" she asked through clenched teeth, her fists balled up._

_ "You really should learn to guard your mind better."_

_ Natalie's hand went to her stomach as she felt a knife press to her neck. The twenty-three year old was sitting down with her back to the person holding the knife to her neck._

_ Her belly was swollen with an unborn baby._

_ Jessamine knew there was no way she could kill her best friend, especially when the woman was pregnant with her first child._

_ She lowered the knife; Natalie spun around in her chair and hit Jess in the gut with an open palm that held a charm. The fifteen year old flew backwards, smacking into the wall hard enough to knock the breath from her lungs._

_ Natalie started walking towards her intruder but stopped when she realized who it was._

_ "Jess?"_

_ Jessamine didn't have the heart to look her friend in the face._

_ "What were doing holding a knife to my neck?"_

_ "I've been ordered to kill you," Jess said quietly._

_ Natalie was speechless._

_ Falicia's words flashed through her head._

_ I wonder what everyone in the White Rose will think when they hear about this._

_ Jessamine stood up quickly, formed a fast acting wizard's graffe in her palm and grabbed Natalie by the throat. Natalie's life started to dwindle immediately. Jessamine slowly laid her friend on the floor._

_ "I'm sorry, Natalie," Jessamine said, closing her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks._

_ "Why… Why did you do this, Jess? The girl I knew wouldn't have killed her best friend. I took the fall for your all those years ago… does that not mean anything to you?" Natalie choked out._

_ "The girl you knew is dead," Jess said, standing up, tears still rolling down her cheeks._

_ "No… she's still in there somewhere. Someone just has to come along and dig her out…"_

_ Natalie Pinebone took her last breath._

_ Jessamine sat in a comfortable arm chair in the drawing room of a large and beautiful home. The home belonged to the Hanson's._

_ It was pitch black in the room, but Jess could hear movement in the room below her. Footsteps grew louder as two people walked up the stairs towards the drawing room._

_ Here we go, Jessamine thought._

_ The two people walked into the room, ripping and tearing at each other's clothes. Jessamine frowned as she remembered why she had killed her best friend and why she would have to kill these two and their five year old child._

_ The White Rose wizard's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could see a man pushing a woman down across the desk in the center of the room. They were kissing deeply and pulling each other's clothes off. Flashes of memory: of fourteen year old Jessamine spread out across her own father's desk as he kissed her and whispered seductively in her ear._

_ A man is weakest when his pants are down, she thought with a smirk as her mind returned to present time._

_ Jess muttered a word under her breath and the light flicked on. The couple stopped kissing and the man's head lifted in curiosity._

_ "I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"_

_ "How the hell did you get into my house?" the man said, turning to face Jessamine._

_ He had blue hair and bright blue eyes. The woman had blue hair and the same bright blue eyes. Jess frowned._

_ She recognized the man from somewhere…_

_ Her eyes widened as she realized where she had seen him before. _

_ This was the man responsible for her mother's death._

_ "Daddy, who's that lady?"_

_ Jessamine looked in the doorway to find a little girl with the same hair and eyes as her parents standing there. The White Rose apprentice decided she wanted the man to suffer the same pain she did before he met his death. She ran at the little girl, beginning to mutter the words for a spell that would make the child's death slow and painful._

_ The man gave a loud roar, like that of a lion's, and he jumped and punched Jessamine in the face; causing her to fly into the bookshelf at the other end of the room._

_ She stood with blood dripping from the corners of her mouth, her breath coming in shallow gasps._

_ "Avery, go back to bed," the man said to his daughter._

_ "Leave our daughter alone, do what you want with us. Just promise to leave her alone," the father said._

_ "Please just let her go. She's only five years old," the mother pleaded with her._

_ Jessamine felt a stab of jealousy. Her father would never risk his own life for hers and she would never know what it felt like to have her mother wrap her in a hug. She couldn't even remember her own mother giving her hugs or kisses or tucking her into bed, or comforting her when she was sad, angry or scared Now the only thing she could ever remember was her father whispering to her about how much she looked like her mother as he took something he didn't have a right to take._

_ The parents pleading with her also reminded Jess of Natalie, pleading for the Red Rose wizards to leave Jess alone when they said they were going to kill the eight year old._

_ "Fine, I'll let her live," Jessamine said._

_ She made the parents deaths quick and painless. The Longbranch girl walked down the hallway to the little girl's bedroom._

_ "You promised them you wouldn't hurt me. It's not honest to make a promise if you can't keep it," the little girl said from where she sat wrapped in a blanket on her bed._

_ Jessamine just stared at the girl, debating with her self over what to do._

_ "What's your name?" the girl asked._

_ "Jessamine Longbranch."_

_ "Well Jessamine Longbranch, what are you going to do? You promised them."_

_ "I didn't promise anything," Jess said, saying the words for an immobilization spell in her head._

_ "Alright, Falicia, I killed them," Jess said, folding her arms._

_ "Good, well then I guess I'll keep my end of the deal," Falicia replied._

_ Jessamine left her father's office and headed to her own bedroom. Right as she reached the door, someone grabbed her from behind and pushed her into the room closing the door behind them and shoving her roughly against the wall. Warm lips were pressed to hers in a frantic greedy kiss._

_ The kiss was broken and she stared into Nelson Hardy's beautiful brown eyes. He kissed her again, deeper this time. Jess's eyes rolled back as his tongue ran across the roof of her mouth. His hands roamed down to her jeans, he undid the button and zipper and she shivered as the pants slid down her legs. The next to fall was her underwear._

_ Jessamine's hands slid down to his waist. She undid his belt and pants and they fell to the floor along with his boxers. Nelson broke the kiss and pulled his shirt from his broad shoulders and she tossed her shirt on the ground once it was off._

_ Nelson kissed her again and his hands went to her back and unlatched her bra. Still kissing her, he pulled the bra from her shoulders. Jess wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands went to her waist. Jessamine jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist._

_ He pushed her against the wall his hands once again on her waist and then he pushed into her. Their kiss was broken yet again by Jessamine tossing her head back and letting out a loud moan of pleasure. Nelson covered her mouth with one of his hands and smiled at her._

_ "Not too loud now, my dear," he said._

_ She smiled back and pulled his head towards hers and kissed him deeply. This time it was her tongue roaming his mouth. He carried her to the bed and sat her down on the end. She lied back trying to catch her breath, which she came to find out was in vain. Nelson was on his knees at the foot of the bed with his head between her legs._

_ Jessamine let out an even louder moan, that, she was sure wouldn't go unnoticed. She covered her mouth with one hand and clutched the sheets, hard enough that her knuckles turned white, with the other._

_ There was a loud and heavy pounding on her bedroom door. Nelson stopped and sat back, gesturing for her to say something before the person pounding on the door broke it down._

_ "Who is it?" Jess said as best she could in a tone that wouldn't give anything away._

_ "It's your father!"_

_ "What is it? I was trying to sleep."_

_ "Did you scream?"_

_ "No, I didn't even hear a scream."_

_ "Alright, good night, then," Jamison said._

_ Neither Jess nor Nelson moved until the sound of her father's footsteps faded away completely._

_ "That was a close one," Nelson said, crawling onto the bed next to her._

_ "Tell me about it," she replied breathlessly._

_ Jess scooted farther up the bed and closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath, yet again. And, yet again, it was in vain. _

_ Nelson straddled her and kissed her deeply. Jessamine's eyes rolled back again as she moaned into his mouth. His arms slid around her back as he held her close. She wrapped her own arms around him, never wanting to let go._

_ Jessamine Longbranch couldn't think straight as her senses were flooded with pleasure and her heart pounded in her chest when he pushed into her again._

_ Nelson rolled onto his back so that Jessamine was straddling him. His hands were on her waist guiding her movements. After a moment or two she let out a loud scream. The scream was caused by the odd but familiar mix of pain and pleasure. Nelson pulled her down so that her chest was across his. She went limp, but her mind was arguing with her body. Her mind wanted the pleasure; her body wanted the chance to slow down._

_ Jessamine lifted her head and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled her onto her back. Then he sat back so that he was on his knees and her legs were once again wrapped around his waist. Nelson moved his hands to her waist, once again guiding her movements._

_ Jess went limp again after a moment and rested her head on his shoulder. She was done; there was no way her body could move any more. He laid her back down and began kissing her neck softly. She moaned into his shoulder as her senses were again flooded with pleasure as his thrusts got harder. Her nails dug into his back as she stifled another moan. Nelson was moving above her slowly and that only made it worse. _

_ Now she was fighting to keep down a scream. Jessamine's eyes flew wide open as she read Falicia's mind. The woman was coming up the stairs to see who had screamed._

_ "We have to stop," Jess tried to say, but another moan escaped just after she finished her sentence._

_ "Why?" Nelson asked, his warm breath wafting over her bare neck._

_ "Falicia is coming to see who screamed. She knows we slept together before this, if she finds us like this then she'll tell my father and we're both done for."_

_ Nelson got off of her and snapped his fingers. His clothes vanished from the floor and appeared on him. Jess noticed that her own clothes had vanished from the floor as well and she was now in a pair of pajamas._

_ He gave her one last long, deep kiss then winked and disappeared just as Falicia opened the door._

_ Jessamine lifted her head and made her self look groggy, as if she had just barely woken up. The young wizard blocked her thoughts from her step mother, not wanting the woman to find out she had slept with her mentor again._

_ "Ever heard of knocking?" Jess said, annoyed._

_ "I kept hearing screaming from up here. Was it you?" Falicia asked._

_ "No. My father asked the same thing and I will give the same answer. It wasn't me. I've been asleep."_

_ Falicia raised an eyebrow skeptically but left the room without another word._

_ Jessamine closed her eyes and sighed._

_ She was already craving Nelson's body against hers. His warm soft lips pressed to hers and his strong comforting arms wrapped around her, keeping her close. Jess could get used to spending every night with him._

_ The next day_

_ Jessamine woke up sore and even more tired than when she had fallen asleep. She got up, got dressed and went down into the kitchen for some breakfast. A servant walked into the room and gave a low bow._

_ "You are to go to your father's office immediately," the servant said, turning and leaving the room._

_ So much for breakfast, she thought._

_ When she entered her father's office she found Falicia glaring up at the painting of Kaitlynn and Jamison. Falicia turned to find Jessamine glaring at her._

_ "What did you need?" Jess asked with a rude tone._

_ "I was just letting you know your father and I have been called away on mission to the States. We'll be home in three days and you'll be the only one here. Your father gave all the servants the time off."_

_ "Whatever," Jess said turning and leaving the room._

_ "I'm not finished. You see I'm still curious about the screams and moans that I heard last night. Are you sure it wasn't you?"_

_ "Quite," she replied to her step mother._

_ "Oh I could argue otherwise. Was it better the second time? Because you really sounded as if you were thoroughly enjoying whatever Nelson was doing to you."_

_ Jessamine didn't answer._

_ "I'll give you some advise my dear step daughter. Men only stay for as long as they are pleasured. As soon as Nelson realizes that you're too young for him and his needs he'll run off to an older more experienced woman."_

_ Jess didn't reply, she just left the room._

_ Falicia smirked as she watched Jessamine limp away. Falicia had told the servants to take the three days off. The wizard was giving her step daughter all the time in the world to screw up big time._

_ That night Jess was lying on her stomach on the couch staring at the wall. She closed her eyes. The palace seemed foreign without any servants walking around._

_ She felt a warm hand slide under her shirt and up her back, then, around to her stomach. Her heart rate picked up. She thought it was interesting how all it took was one touch from this man and she was turned on._

_ Nelson rolled her over onto her back, sat her up, and pulled her shirt off. He carried her up the stairs to her room without a word. Once they were in her room he shut the door and locked it, then pushed her gently against the wall and kissed her, his tongue sliding under hers._

_ Jessamine didn't know whether or not Nelson was getting the same pleasure out of this that she was. So she decided to make it better for him. Jess slid both her hands up below his shirt then one hand trailed down to his pants. Her soft hand slid into his pants. One finger traced a line from his outer thigh to his inner thigh and her other hand was undoing his pants._

_ After his pants and boxers hit the floor she broke the kiss and started to bend down. He stopped her by grabbing both her hands by the wrist and pushing her back up against the wall, his body flat against hers._

_ Jess closed her eyes as he whispered in her ear._

_ "That's my job my dear."_

_ He let go of her hands and took off her bra then slid her pants from her waist and then she pulled his shirt from his shoulders. Jessamine shoved him roughly onto the bed and straddled him. Nelson's hands went to her waist, but she grabbed him by the wrists and laid down on him with her chest over his and her lips next to his ear._

_ "I don't need help this time," Jess said, seductively her voice thick with Persuasion._

_ She laid his arms out to his sides and sat back up. Jessamine closed her eyes for a moment then looked down into his warm brown eyes as she slowly rocked her hips._

_ She rolled off Nelson and went limp trying to catch her breath. Jess's legs were over the edge of the bed and she didn't realize that Nelson had gotten up until she felt his hands on her knees, spreading her legs apart._

_ She felt his lips brush right above her belly button and his tongue traced a line down until his head was once again between her legs. Before she knew how to react her body arched upwards and she was once again gripping the sheets. A moan escaped her lips and another and another and each time it just got louder and louder._

_ Nelson pushed her farther up onto the bed so that her legs weren't over the edge then he straddled her. His hips rocked against hers and with each thrust she let out moans that kept getting louder until they eventually escalated to screams of pleasure._

_ Jess forced him to roll over onto his back. It was her turn to have control. She kissed him deeply, her tongue tangling with his, as her hips rocked against his. The young wizard had never felt so alive. Her noble blood rushed through her veins and her heart pounded in her chest._

_ Jessamine collapsed onto Nelson. She had no energy left. The fifteen year-old rolled off him and cuddled up to his warm chest. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her on the forehead._

_ "I will never forget how beautiful you are Jessamine Longbranch," he whispered to her as she fell asleep._

_ When she woke up the next day he was gone and deep down she knew he wasn't coming back. She hated to admit it, but, Falicia had been right; he only wanted her until he was pleasured. _

_ 1 Week Later_

_ (Jessamine Longbranch is an official wizard of the White Rose at this time) _

_ Jessamine was walking past her father's office when she heard a soft moaning coming from within. She stopped dead in her tracks, confused._

_ She had just seen her father in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. She knew it was Falicia, but who was she with?_

_ Jess used an unnoticeable charm and snuck into the office. She almost threw up at the sight of her step mother's bare back. The older wizard was straddling someone on the chair in front of the desk, her hips rocking slowly._

_ Memories of her self in that chair with her father below her flashed into her mind._

_ Jessamine walked up next to the chair to get a better look at who the man was._

_ Nelson Hardy_

_ Falicia's eyes flicked over to where Jessamine was standing, unnoticeable, and an evil smirk came across the woman's mouth._

_ She knows I'm here, Jess thought._

_ The young wizard used a transportation spell and appeared next to her father. He almost spilled his coffee when she appeared out of thin air._

_ "Dad, you have to come here!" she said frantically. _

_ She dragged him out of his chair and into his office._

_ "Falicia!" he yelled, outraged that he had caught his wife cheating on him. _

_ "J… Jamison this isn't what it looks like," Falicia stuttered. _

_ She climbed off of Nelson and snapped her fingers and clothes appeared on her. Nelson did the same._

_ "Explain yourself. Now!" Jamison yelled._

_ "Oh it's not me who should be explaining myself it's your daughter who should be explaining herself," Falicia said with another smirk._

_ "What?" Jamison asked, turning to his daughter._

_ Jess just stared at him, terrified._

_ "Well, if she won't then I will. She forced her self on Nelson. Your daughter did this to him three separate times."_

_ "Both of you get out," Jamison said to Nelson and Falicia. "We need to have a serious conversation, Jessamine."_

_ Falicia and Nelson left to Jessamine's dismay. Now that they left her father was going to punish her for breaking his rules._

_ Jamison pushed his daughter against the wall with one hand on her shoulder the other sliding into her pants._

_ "It doesn't matter what Falicia and Nelson did. That I can forgive, but you forcing yourself on your own mentor? You have deliberately disobeyed me," Jamison said with a disgusted tone._

_ Jess squeezed her eyes shut as he undid her pants and his. He pushed into her roughly then lifted her legs up around his waist. Her back was against the wall, her arms wrapped around his neck, and his hands on her butt._

_ "You disappoint me, Jessamine," Jamison whispered in her ear._

_ The fast, hard, deep thrusts hurt her but she kept back her screams the whole time. _

_ That Night_

_ Jess was lying on her back on her bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. Her train of thought ended when she felt someone sit down on the end of the bed._

_ "What do you want, Nelson?"_

_ "Can't you forgive me?"_

_ "For sleeping with Falicia? Yes. But for not sticking up for me when she accused me of forcing myself on you, I can't forgive you."_

_ Nelson remained quiet._

_ "Get out of here. I never want to see you again for as long as I live."_

_ The man left without a word._

_ And that was the first time Jessamine Longbranch's heart had been broken._

_ The Next Night_

_ Jessamine stood next to a couple of her friends, at a party being held in the Longbranch family palace; they were talking about her being made an official member of the White Rose. The fifteen year old was wearing a beautiful low cut white dress. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her father staring at her._

_ "Will you please excuse me?" she said to her friends._

_ Jess went upstairs to her room, shut and locked the door behind her and tore the dress off. Letting it fall to the floor she walked into her bathroom and hopped in a hot shower. She was done with the party, she had a headache and her thighs hurt from the night before. Her back was to the door so she didn't hear her father come in and pull his own clothes off._

_ Jamison wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him; her back flat against his chest._

_ "You are so beautiful," he whispered in her ear._

_ He pushed into her without any warning, taking her from behind. Jess let out a scream of pain as he pushed her against the shower wall; her cheek was against the cold, wet wall of the shower. After about fifteen to twenty minutes Jamison pulled away from her and she sank down to her knees. The hot water poured down onto her, soaking her hair and turning her skin red. Falicia gave a small fake cough from the doorway._

_ For once Jess was glad to see her step-mother. _

_ Her father got out of the shower and quickly dried himself off. When he walked out into Jessamine's bedroom, Falicia was now sitting on the bed with her arms folded._

_ "What is it?" Jamison asked._

_ "You need to be more careful, Jamison," she replied with an even tone._

_ "Don't worry, I'm using spells, she won't get pregnant-"he was cut off._

_ "That not what I mean. To be honest I don't give a shit what you do to your daughter. But, I do care when you decide to do it. Claude D'Orsay heard her; he heard her screaming," Falicia said, frowning as she stood up._

_ Jamison went down to the large living room of his palace and shook hands with D'Orsay. No one else from the party was left except for the young man._

_ "How may I help you, Mr. D'Orsay?" Jamison said._

_ "Where is your daughter?" Claude asked._

_ "Upstairs in her bedroom, I think. She might have snuck out. Jessamine doesn't exactly enjoy these parties."_

_ "If she is here may I speak with her?"_

_ "Yes, I'll go check and see if she is home."_

_ "Oh, and, Mr. Longbranch, don't try to pretend she's not here. Because if you do; I'll know." _

_ Jessamine walked into the kitchen where Claude D'Orsay was waiting to speak to her. Jamison tried to stay in the room, afraid of what his daughter might say._

_ "I wish to speak with her alone, Mr. Longbranch," D'Orsay said._

_ Jamison just nodded in reply and left the room._

_ "Nice to finally meet you, Jessamine, I have heard great things about you."_

_ "It's an honor, sir," Jess replied shaking his outstretched hand. Surprisingly, he wasn't that much older than her; three maybe four years her senior._

_ "I'm going to ask you some questions and don't be afraid to answer them truthfully. I used a soundproofing spell, so we won't have to worry about listeners."_

_ "Ask away," she said._

_ But nothing could have prepared her for the question he would ask._

_ "Do you have a sexual relationship with your father?"_

_ Jessamine's mouth opened to reply, but nothing came. She stared at the floor for a moment before closing her eyes and answering._

_ "Yes."_

_ "Is it forced or are you willing?"_

_ "Both, it depends on the day."_

_ "How often does this happen?"_

_ "At least twice a week sometimes three to four times."_

_ D'Orsay frowned._

_ "How would you like to go to college early?"_

_ "What?"_

_ "I can get you into a college early, have you ever considered what you want to do for a career?"_

_ "Anything in the medical field."_

_ "Anything specific?"_

_ "Heart surgeon."_

_ "I can get you in and you can finish as early as five to six years."_

_ "But to be a surgeon don't you have to go for longer than that?"_

_ "You're smart enough that you should be okay."_

_ "But what do I do about my father?"_

_ "I can take care of that-"she cut him off midsentence._

_ "Don't put him in prison or kill him. Just don't say anything to him."_

_ "Why ever not?"_

_ "Look, it doesn't matter just don't say anything to him. As far as he knows the only reason you wanted to talk to me about was getting into a college early."_

_ "Alright, we'll leave it alone."_

_A twenty year old Jessamine Longbranch was running through the streets of London, towards the White Rose headquarters. A messenger had come to her dorm at the college she was attending to earn a degree as a cardiothoracic surgeon, and informed her that the White Rose leader had been killed. She had been told to report to headquarters immediately. When she arrived there people were gathered around talking quietly and grimly. The second the young woman had entered the room everyone went quiet. Jess stared around, confused as to why people had gone so deathly quiet. Her father stepped out of the crowd and walked towards her. _

_ Jamison Longbranch was a tall man with black hair and dark brown eyes that held wisdom and a refined dignity. This man almost never showed sympathy or any other emotions, he always acted as if everything and everyone was below him and that every living person should have to treat him with respect. When Jessamine's mother died her father never shed a single tear, not in front of her anyway, and when his daughter would start crying about it he would tell her to grow up and move on with life. That was not something a father should say to his seven year old daughter who had just lost her mother. Jamison would always leave Jessamine with her mother's sister and he would always come home with the same woman. When she was supposed to be in bed and asleep, little seven year old Jessamine would sneak downstairs and hide in the shadows, watching her father with this new woman. He would kiss the woman, hold her when something was wrong, and tell her that he loved her. Little Jess would always walk up the stairs like a shadow in the night, and at first she was excited about the new woman in her father's life but she soon realized that this woman was nothing but trouble._

_ When her father finally introduced them, the woman seemed nice enough._

_ "Jessamine, this is Falicia, she's a friend of mine," her father said._

_ Falicia had blond hair and blue eyes, with an air of importance about her._

_ "Hello," Jess said._

_ "Nice to meet you, Jessamine, your father has told me a lot about you," Falicia said, shaking Jessamine's hand._

_ When they shook hands the seven year old pulled her arm back like she had just been bit. She had felt magic, threatening magic. This woman, Falicia, was a wizard no doubt about it, but was she sincere or was she plotting something._

_ Her father placed his hands on her shoulders and smirked at her. _

_"Congratulations, Jessamine, you've been made leader and Warriormaster of the White Rose," Jamison said._

_ Everyone in the room started clapping and hollering and shouting congrats to the newly made leader. But Jess just stared back at her father in confusion._

_ "But, Father, I'm only twenty, I'm still too young to be leader," she said._

_ "You were voted in, everyone in the White Rose voted for you to be leader after our previous leader died."_

_ "Everyone?"_

_ "Yes, my daughter, everyone."_

_ That was the first time he had ever said anything to her that actually hinted he cared that she was his daughter. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the forehead, and she tensed up remembering the many times he had held her close._

_ "I'm proud of you, and I know your mother would be too," he whispered._

_ Yes, she would be, but of what exactly, Jess thought to herself._

_ Later that night everyone was celebrating and drinking the finest wines, beers, and whiskeys in the world. Jess had really gotten into the wine, after at least twelve glasses she felt loopy but she knew she was no where near being drunk. She had been drunk before and this was not drunk. The young White Rose leader was talking and laughing with some friends when someone tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned she was surprised to see her stepmother, Falicia._

_ "Hello, Falicia," she said before downing the rest of her glass of wine._

_ "May I speak with you, Jessamine?" Falicia asked._

_ "Of course. I'll be back in a minute," she said to her friends._

_ Once they reached an empty room that, for some odd reason, was very far from the party, Jessamine spoke up._

_ "What did you need, Falicia, I kind of need to get back there."_

_ "Why, so you can party with your friends, get drunk and take some guy foolish enough to fall for you home? I think not," Falicia said with and evil glare and tone._

_ Jess stared at Falicia as if the woman's head had fallen off her shoulders. "What are you talking about?"_

_ "I'm the rightful leader for the White Rose, not you. You're nothing but a spoiled brat who has an important daddy!"_

_ "You heard my father! Everyone voted for me. I-" _

_ Jess stopped short when Falicia shot a spell at her. The new White Rose leader was barely able to deflect the spell._

_ "What's your fucking problem!" Jess yelled._

_ "You're my problem!"_

_ Before she knew what hit her Jessamine was slammed into the wall by, what she guessed, was a wizard's graffe. She felt as if someone had just lodged a knife into her stomach. The young wizard ran at her father's wife and shot an immobilization spell at the woman's midsection. The spell only missed by centimeters and when she was about to launch another spell she noticed how hard it was to breathe and after a moment she could barely stand. As Jess fell to her knees, Falicia grabbed her by the throat, and got in her face._

_ "You see? You can't even defend yourself against me!"_

_ It was the all the wine she had drunk, it was making her reaction time slow. Jessamine went limp faking unconsciousness, and concentrating on her weirstone building power in her palm. For a moment Falicia just stared with an evil smirk but when she felt something like electricity to the gut she gasped and fell to the ground._

_ "Don't let your enemy fool you into thinking they're unable to fight back," Jess said standing up, her breathing labored._

_ "How did you?" Falicia gasped._

_ "Oh all I did was hit you with an immobilization spell that had a little kick to it; the only let down is that it's slow acting. Don't try to move though it'll hurt like hell. I'm going to let you off with a warning, if you ever try to kill me again or do anything else that will injure me. I will tell my father what you did, the only reason I'm not telling him right now is because I know he loves you and I don't want to make him unhappy."_

_ This time Jessamine got in Falicia's face._

_ "Never think for one second that I'll let my guard down. I may be only twenty but I've learned that everyone has hidden motives for everything. In marrying my mother my father's hidden motive was just to have a child that could continue his blood line. Yours in marrying my father was to become high ranking within the White Rose, not to comfort him after his first wife died."_

_ Jess stood up and put a hand on her stomach, healing the injury she had been given. Then she turned to leave the room._

_ "What about you, Jessamine Longbranch? Huh? What is your hidden motive in becoming leader of the White Rose?"_

_ Jessamine stopped for a moment and looked over her shoulder._

_ "I have none."_

_ Without another word Jessamine Longbranch left the room with her head held high. She had just proved, to Falicia and to herself, that she could be a great leader._

_TIME SPAN UNKNOWN_

_ Jessamine sat at her oak wood desk in her home office reading through a file. There was a knock at the office door and she set the file down as she poured herself a glass of wine. _

_ "Come in," she said._

_ "Dr. Longbranch, I have some bad news. Your father has just been killed," the wizard that had walked in said._

_ Jessamine had lifted the wine glass to her lips as the wizard told her that her father, Jamison Longbranch, had been killed. She only paused slightly before taking a drink of her wine._

_ "That's unfortunate," she said._

_ I probably look like a real bitch right now, but I really don't care that much, Jamison Longbranch never did anything for me, Jessamine thought._

_ "Falicia told me that she cannot go to the states to look for warriors, she said something came up elsewhere," the wizard said._

_ Longbranch's calm look faded to one of anger, Damn her, she thought._

_ "Fine I'll go myself, but inform Falicia that when I get back we'll be having a talk," she said._

_ When Jessamine stepped off the plane on an Air Force base a lot of the soldiers gaped and whistled at her. The surgeon was used to it, but it was still hard to ignore and it aggravated her to no end. She got her beauty from her mother, and the wizardry just added to it. Wizards to Anaweir (normal people without powers) were irresistible. Sometimes there was a plus side to that sometimes not._

_ A handsome young soldier lead her to the room she would be staying in during the time she was there. She closed the door in his face not wanting to deal with someone flirting with for the twentieth time that morning. She unpacked then walked to the cafeteria and asked an older looking Lt. where she could find the general for this base. He pointed her towards an office at the end of the hallway. She knocked and listened for permission to enter, it took a moment for the man to open the door, in which she rolled her eyes, and when he did he waved her into the office. _

_ "What can I do for you, Miss-"_

_ Jess cut him short._

_ "Dr. Longbranch. Jessamine Longbranch," she said._

_ "Well I'm sorry. What do you need?"_

_ "I was sent over here to look over some pilots for a new fighter plane group that the British Royal Air Force is forming. I need to meet some of your pilots and see them fly."_

_ "Alright well you're in luck, our best pilot just took off a few seconds ago so you can come and see him fly."_

_ Jessamine followed the General to the plane hangars then out on to the runway. She had put her sunglasses on and watched an F-16 Fighting Falcon fly over head._

_ "Is that him?" she asked over the noise of the jet._

_ "Yep! Aaron Ross is the best pilot we got!" the general shouted._

_ She watched Aaron Ross fly the plane as if it was part of him, performing barrel roles and nose diving then pulling up at the last second._

_ "I'd like to meet him, General," Jess shouted over the noise again._

_ "Alright, we'll call him in."_

_ About fifteen minutes after Aaron Ross had landed his plane and was walking towards the General and Jessamine._

_ "General sir," Aaron said saluting his superior._

_ "Commander Ross this is... uh... what did you say your name was again?" the General asked her._

_ "I'm Dr. Jessamine Longbranch," she said holding her hand out to Aaron._

_ "Colonel Aaron Ross," he said, shaking her hand._

_ Aaron's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. He knew she was a wizard, she smirked. He must be a warrior, she thought, he didn't have the electricity like wizards do but he has a strong grip. He has to be a warrior._

_ "Well if you gentlemen will excuse me I must be going. I had a long flight and I need some rest."_

_ Jessamine was relaxing in a chair in the corner of the room she was staying in when there was a knock on the door._

_ What now, she thought._

_ Opening the door she found Aaron Ross standing there with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. She had to admit, he was handsome, __**really**__**handsome**__._

_ "Can I help you, Colonel Ross?" she asked._

_ "I know this might sound weird, but I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me?" the pilot asked._

_ Jess thought about it a moment and realized that this was her chance to get him close then take him back to London to fight in the Game._

_ "Sure. Let me grab my coat and we can go," she replied._

_ They had had a nice dinner off base then came back and were now in her room, she was sitting on her bed and he was leaning against the wall. They were just talking like normal friends. Aaron stretched out his back and groaned in pain._

_ "Why don't you sit down, you look like your back hurts," she said, gesturing to the chair in the corner._

_ He started walking towards the chair but never made it that far, he stumbled and Jess, with lighting quick reflexes, caught him around the waist and pulled him up onto the bed. He looked like he was in a lot of pain._

_ "Are you alright?" she asked._

_ He looked at her with his deep blue eyes and leaned forward slowly. Their lips met and before Jess realized what she was doing; her arms were wrapped around his neck pulling him in closer. He broke the kiss._

_ "I am now." he said, kissing her again._

_ When she woke the next morning she stretched her arms out and her eyes flew open when her finger brushed bare skin. She looked over and saw Aaron Ross sound asleep next to her in her bed. Jessamine's eyes widened, oh no, not good. She climbed out of bed and pulled her clothes on, right after she had gotten off the bed Aaron had woken up. He looked over at her and smiled. She didn't return the smile._

_ "That can never happen again," she said without emotion._

_ "What! Why not?" he asked in dismay._

_ "I- You know that I'm a wizard right?"_

_ "Yeah, I could tell from the moment we shook hands."_

_ "I'm leader of the White Rose; I came here to find warriors to fight in the Game."_

_ "You're... you're leader of the __**White Rose**__?"_

_ "Yes."_

_1 MONTH LATER_

_ Jessamine was disappointed in herself, when she told Aaron that could never happen again, that had to have been the biggest lie she had ever told. Every night for the past month they slept together. She was running out of excuses to tell the White Rose why she was staying so long, she was their leader but she shouldn't be gone this long, not with the Red Rose on the prowl. She was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room when she thought she was going to be sick. She ran to the adjoining bathroom and just barely made it to the toilet before she puked. _

_ That afternoon she was lying on the bathroom floor, trying not to throw up. Jess heard Aaron walk in the bedroom door and right at that minute she had to puke again. Her back arched as she puked her guts up. Aaron ran to her side._

_ "What's wrong, Jess?" he asked, deeply concerned._

_ "I don't know. I've been throwing up all day, since I woke up this morning," she replied, gasping for breath._

_ At that moment she knew what was wrong._

_ She was pregnant._

_ The next morning she left immediately. On the plane ride home she could only think about Aaron and the baby she was carrying. Was it a boy or a girl, would it look like her or like Aaron? Only time would tell. But she thought one thing before drifting off into sleep._

_ I never wanted to fall in love._

The week after Jay and Leah had rescued their mother Jay went back to school to become a heart surgeon like Jessamine. He had her last name now and that had perks to it. Everyone knew the name Jessamine Longbranch. Now there would be another Dr. Longbranch in the medical ranks.


	10. Chapter 9

PART III

CHAPTER 9

Phone Call

4 YEARS LATER

Jay was asleep in bed next to his girlfriend when his cell phone went off. He sat up and grabbed the phone of the nightstand.

"This is Dr. Longbranch," he said groggily.

"Jay?"

His eyes flew open.

"Leah?"

"Oh thank God you answered. We have a huge problem!" his sister said.

"A problem, that needs to be dealt with at three thirty in the morning?"

"Yes!"

"Ok, calm down. What is it?"

"It's Mom. She's lost her powers."

"What! How?"

"Her weirstone was removed using magic."

Jay clutched the phone hard enough to nearly break it, he felt his girlfriend's hand on his shoulder and her lips brushing his neck; he relaxed quite a bit.

"Leah, you need to bring Dr. Longbranch here to Boston."

"Ok, Jay, I'll have her get ready in the morning, and then we'll leave. If we go by plane we should be there sometime tomorrow night," Leah said, and then hung up.

Jay sighed setting the phone down, then ran a hand through his spiky black hair.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" his girlfriend asked.

"Nothing I just have to do something for Jessamine Longbranch. Her weirstone was removed."

"Why should you do anything for her? I mean, what's she ever done for you?"

"It's a long story ok," Jay said standing up.

He pulled a t-shirt on, took off his pajama pants and put on some jeans.

"Where are you going at three forty in the morning?" she asked.

"I have to go out so I can think for a minute."

The next night Jay was waiting at the airport, leaned up against the side of his 2011 black Dodge Charger, one hand his pocket, and smoking a cigarette. He had picked up the bad habit two years prior. The warrior was watching for two familiar black manes of hair. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone walking up to his car, and when he turned to look at the person approaching a grin spread across his handsome face.

"Hey, Leah," he said, throwing the cigarette on the ground and smashing it with his foot.

"Hey, Jay," his sister said, giving him a hug.

"Hello, Dr. Longbranch," Jay said to his mother.

"Hello, Jay," she replied, with a tired voice.

He opened the passenger door for Jessamine, then the right back door for Leah. Jay shut the two car doors then walked around to the driver's side and got in. As he started the car he could hear Leah chuckling.

"What are you chuckling for?" he asked her, revving the engine.

"Oh nothing. Just the fact that you actually brought a car with a back seat this time," the young wizard said, smiling at her older brother.

Jessamine looked at her children, raising an eyebrow at Leah's comment.

He rolled his eyes at her but was smiling himself. They pulled out of the airport parking lot, headed for Jay's house.

Little did they know, someone from Jessamine Longbranch's past was watching them with a dropped jaw.

THE NEXT DAY

Jackson Swift was in a store parking lot with his father, still a bit jumpy from what he had seen the night before. The young warrior couldn't believe that Jessamine Longbranch, the heart surgeon that had implanted his warrior stone, had come to Boston at the same time as him. The last he saw of the White Rose wizard, she had been cringing on the ground screaming in agony, as she was turned to Anaweir. He hadn't expected to see the surgeon in Boston, much less the states, because of what had happened. But the battle of Trinity had been months ago, so why was she in Boston, Jack wondered.

When he turned his head he saw the man that Longbranch had left the airport with.

"Hey, Dad," Jack said, tapping on his father's shoulder. Then pointing to Jay he said, "Who's that guy?"

"Oh, that's Dr. Jay Longbranch, he's a heart surgeon. A damn good one at that," Thomas Swift said.

"Is he by chance related to Jessamine Longbranch, you know the heart surgeon in London?"

"The one who saved you as a child? Well I don't know I guess it's possible since they have the same last names. Hey, Jack we need to go."

"Can I just stay here? I wanted to look around the store some more."

"That's fine. Just call me when you're ready for me to come get you ok."

"Yeah, ok."

Jay was starting to climb into his car when he felt someone tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a boy, well muscled, about three fourths his height with red blond hair and blue eyes.

"Can I help you," Jay asked a little annoyed.

"You're Dr. Longbranch aren't you?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Jack Swift," Jack said sticking his hand out to Jay.

Jay shook his hand, and was surprised to meet a strong grip.

He's a warrior, Jay thought.

"You're a warrior," Jack said, a little surprised himself.

"Yeah and so are you. What do you want kid, I have some place to be."

"Why did I see Jessamine Longbranch climbing into your car yesterday night?"

That question caught him off guard.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because. She's evil, so if you're helping her, you'll be sorry."

"I've known her since I was fifteen, and she seems fine to me."

"Are you related to her? Is that why you're helping her?"

"We're distantly related, she's my third cousin or something like that."

"Then why do you have the same last name?"

"How should I know? I don't pay attention to that stuff!" Jay said, greatly annoyed.

"Don't help her."

"Why not?"

"She's done a lot of bad things to a lot of people, including me."

"Oh and what exactly did she do to you?"

"I was born without a wizard stone, and I was dying so she implanted a warrior stone in me."

"You should be grateful. Sounds like to me she saved your life."

"Yeah well that may be but she did it so she could have a warrior to play in the Game. She's also murdered people just to get what she wants and a few months ago she laid siege to my town along with Claude D'Orsay and Geoffrey Wylie. One of my friends was killed and my other friend Ellen almost died as well."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but I really have to go. Nice talkin' with ya," Jay said, slamming the car door shut.

What this younger warrior had said to him gave him an idea.

When Jay ran into his house to get out of the rain, he saw Jessamine sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket, drinking a glass of Jay's finest wine.

"Is that wine treating you well?" he asked.

"It seems that you inherited my fine taste for wine," she said with a small smile.

He smiled back, then sat down next to his mother.

"Mom, I have an idea that might help you become a wizard again."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "What is it?" she asked greedily.

"All we need to do is find a wizard stone and implant it in your chest."

She shivered a little, remembering Jackson Swift.

"And what gave you this idea?"

"I met an old '_friend' _of yours while I was out today. His name was Jack Swift. He tried telling me that I shouldn't be helping you because you were evil."

She just stared at the floor. Jess was really happy, overjoyed in fact, that her son had been able to come up with an idea to help her become a wizard again, but this one hit real close to home.

"That's great, I'm glad you were able to come up with something."

"Now the problem is finding a wizard stone," he said, scratching his head.

Jay's girlfriend walked into the living room.

"I can help you there," she said.

"You know where we can get one?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, I have a couple of friends who are traders. I'll give 'em a call and see when they can meet you with it."


	11. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Another Warning

A WEEK LATER

A week ago Jay had acquired the wizard stone and implanted it in Jessamine's chest, just as she did with Jack Swift. His mother remembered every spell she had ever learned, but she still had to make a recovery. Thankfully she was recuperating fast. After she had lost her weirstone she had starting looking a lot older than she usually did. Jess used spells to hide aging, and she started using the spells almost immediately after getting a new wizard stone and she looked twenty years old again. Jay never did ask her how old she really was, he didn't really think it mattered just that she was a wizard again.

Jay was riding his horse through the woods when a huge snow storm picked up and made it almost impossible to see. But he knew these woods like the back of his hand; they were after all the same woods he trained in when he was fourteen. The warrior was headed back to the house when he heard someone scream at the top of their lungs.

Oh great, he thought, what now? But wait a minute, that didn't come from the direction of the house that came from deeper in the woods.

He headed towards the scream and what he found surprised and amused him. Two terrified teenage girls were huddled below a tree.

"What are you two doing in my woods?" he asked, jumping off his horse.

"N-nothing," one of the girls said.

The one that spoke had shoulder length brown hair, and green eyes, the other had black hair that came down to the middle of her back with brown eyes.

"Well you were obviously doing something other wise you wouldn't be cowering under a tree in a blizzard," Jay said raising an eyebrow. "Well come on, let's get you two out of the cold before you catch a cold or freeze to death."

He helped the two girls onto his horse then grabbed the reins, but froze for a second when he heard a twig snap deeper in the woods.

"When you two get to the house just go in. Oh, and a friend of mine is there so make sure you holler or something so she doesn't freak out and try to kill you."

"Aren't you coming with us?" the brown haired girl asked.

Without answering he said 'home' to his horse and hit it on the butt. The mare took off towards the house at a dead run, the girls screaming at the sudden take off. Jay watched the spot where the horse had gone through the trees and bushes. Then he opened his palm, closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened his eyes his sword _Charger _was in his now closed palm. The warrior turned and faced the area where he heard a twig break. A man that was Jay's height walked out of the trees. Jay's eyes widened when he realized who the person was.

Aaron Ross

"What are you doing here?" Jay asked.

"I see that sword is treating you well then," Aaron said with a smirk.

"That wasn't an answer to my question," Jay said, tightening his grip on the leather handle of his sword.

"Well I was looking for you and Jessamine Longbranch. I found you so I guess that means that I'll find her if I follow you."

"What do you want with Dr. Longbranch?"

"Stop playing games, I know she's your mother. I'm not stupid, you look just like her!"

"Yeah well, I'm not just gonna take you to her willingly."

"Then I guess I'll just have to force you," Aaron said, drawing his own sword.

Aaron's sword was a long broadsword with a deadly gleam about it. The older warrior rushed at Jay, with the sword poised for a strike. Aaron swung his sword and Jay parried the strike. Then Jay swung his sword and cut Aaron's arm open but the Air Force general didn't even flinch. Out of no where Aaron's fist smashed into Jay's nose, shattering the cartilage. As blood poured down his face, Jay kicked out, trying to hit Aaron. The soldier caught the young surgeon's leg and brought the handle of his sword down hard. Jay yelled in agony as he heard and felt the bone in his leg snap.

Then Aaron knocked _Charger _from Jay's hand, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him into a tree, splintering the wood.

"You'll stop helping Jessamine Longbranch if you know what's good for you," Aaron said with a deadly tone, his face just inches from Jay's.

He placed his sword against the main artery in Jay's throat, and getting in his face.

"Fuck you!" Jay yelled

"What is Jessamine having you do for her?"

"Nothing! I just helped her with a small thing, that's all!" Jay choked out.

"And what was that small thing, hm?"

"I'm not telling you."

_**"Tell. Me."**_

_**"Fuck. You."**_

"Why do you care some much about her? She abandoned you as a newborn baby!"

"She's my mother! I don't care what she did in the past, what matters is what she does now, not then," Jay said glaring at the older warrior.

Aaron just glared back, not saying anything.

"Why do you hate her so much, since we're on the subject of feelings for my mother?" Jay said with a snide tone.

"Jessamine Longbranch abandoned me as well. She made me think that she was in love with me then one day she just left without a single word."

Jay's eyes widened.

"I know why she left you," he said, quietly.

"Why?"

"Ask her yourself, I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you," Jay said with a smirk. Aaron had said the same thing to Jay when the young warrior was fourteen after he had asked who his mother was.

Aaron punched Jay hard in the stomach then squeezed his neck harder and unexpectedly threw him into a tree across the clearing. Jay went clean through the tree, the large pine falling over with a loud crash.

"Have fun trying to get through these woods with a broken leg," Aaron said, putting his sword in its scabbard and walking away.

Jay forced himself to sit up and whistled long and loud. Two minutes later his horse came galloping through the trees. He grabbed onto a tree branch and heaved himself up, then grabbing the saddle horn; he pulled himself up into the saddle, his leg throbbing with each beat of his heart. When he reached the house, he saw Jessamine on the porch drinking a glass of wine (as usual). She smiled when she saw her son in the distance but the smile quickly faded when he and the horse came closer.

He was covered in blood.

When the horse came to a stop in front of the porch, Jay fell from the saddle. Jess had quick reflexes and caught him before he hit the dirt.

"Leah!" Jessamine yelled at the top of her lungs for her daughter.


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Ambush

Jay woke up in his bed, sitting up he winced. Then he remembered what had happened the day before, his own father had attacked him and nearly killed him.

That's a great thought to wake up to in the morning, he thought with a frown.

The warrior felt better he was just sore everywhere. Hearing a blood curdling scream, he threw the covers off and flew out his bedroom door and down the stairs. Upon reaching the living room, he saw Leah holding his mother back from the girl with the black hair and brown eyes. The girl with black hair was hiding behind the girl with brown hair.

"Don't kill me Dr. Longbranch! I'm sorry! I was just doing what I could to survive!" the girl with black hair said.

"When I get my hands on you Alicia Middleton, you _**will **_be sorry! Let go of me Leah!" Jess yelled.

"What's going on?" Jay croaked.

Everyone stopped.

The girl with brown hair was staring at him, like a puppy would stare at a toy. Then Jessamine glared at the girl with brown hair as if she had done something offensive. Leah gave him a look that said 'this is not good'. Alicia Middleton just stayed hidden behind the other girl with closed eyes and her hands on her head in a protective way.

"Why are you staring at me that way?" Jay asked.

"No reason," the girl said looking away quickly.

Jay looked down and just now realized that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Oh, that's why she was staring, he thought.

Jessamine raised an eyebrow at the girl's comment and opened her mouth as if to contradict her but then thought better of it.

"Leah, you can kindly let me go now," Jess said instead.

"Are you gonna leave Leesha alone?" Leah asked.

"Yes, just let go of me."

Leah let go but stayed close just in case.

"Who are you?" Jessamine asked the girl with brown hair.

"Talia Jackson," the girl replied.

"Ah, a Jackson. I didn't know that Tristan had a child," Jessamine said.

The surgeon stuck her hand out and Talia took it and flinched. Jess smirked at the young girl's reaction.

"You're a wizard?" Talia said, surprised.

Just then there was an explosion and the house shook.

"What was-" Leah was cut off as there was another explosion.

"Everyone get out to the car, we have to get out of here," Jay said.

Everyone ran out the front door and over to Jay's Dodge Charger. Leah, Talia, and Leesha all climbed into the back. Jess opened the passenger door and was about to get in when a deep voice sounded.

"I don't think so Dr. Longbranch."

"Oh fuck," Jess said in a quiet voice.

Leander Hastings (the one who had spoken), Linda Downey, Joseph McCauly, Jackson Swift, and Ellen Stephenson all stood in a line each with an angry look on their faces. Jay threw a questioning glance at his mother, then returning his gaze to the people in front of him, he clenched then unclenched his right hand and his sword appeared in his palm with a flash of light.

"Dr. Longbranch, you get these three out of here I'll distract them," Jay said just loud enough for his mother to hear, but no one else.

"Jay no. You just got your ass kicked yesterday and you expect me to leave you here by yourself against two warriors, and two wizards?" Jess said with a stern tone.

"Yeah I do. Just go," he said as he rushed at the group.

Jay jumped, front flipped and landed behind the line of his enemies. Then he rushed at them from behind and _Charger _clanged against _Shadowslayer,_ Jack's sword. He tripped the younger warrior then landed a punch to Jack's jaw, knocking him out cold.

One down, five to go, he thought.

Then Jay turned to the girl warrior, their swords flashing as she parried every shot he took at her. The hair on the back of Jay's neck stood up and he knew a spell had been shot at him. He back flipped over the spell and the charm that was meant for him hit the female warrior he had been fighting. The charm turned out to be an immobilization spell.

Jay turned to face his next opponent and saw another spell headed straight for his bare chest. Then Jessamine appeared in front of him, blocking the spell. She glanced over her shoulder at her son, and gave him a look that said 'don't _**ever**_ expect me to leave you behind.' He nodded in understanding then they rushed at Seph and Hastings, as one, mother and son, an unstoppable force.

Blood red flames had engulfed the blade of Jay's sword and Jess had two unknown spells in both her hands. Jay took on Hastings; the older wizard just dodged the wild swing of Jay's sword and slammed his palm into Jay's broken ribs. But the young warrior didn't falter; he elbowed Leander in the nose, and then ran his sword across the wizard's chest.

Jessamine ran at McCauly and her hand smashed into the teen's chest, then her other hand went over his throat. Seph collapsed onto the ground in an unconscious heap. Then something slammed into Jess's side and she was thrown off balance. Jessamine was lying on her back in the mud, rain pouring down, with the breath knocked out of her when Linda Downey came to stand over her.

"You've betrayed me and practically torn my family apart, Jessamine Longbranch and I've had enough. I don't know how you got your wizard capabilities back but I'll make sure that you will never take another breath again. This ends here and now," Linda said pulling out a knife.

"Finally going to get your hands dirty huh, Linda?" Jessamine taunted, with a cracked voice.

Jay had looked over just as Linda had pulled out the knife. When he turned back to Hastings, he ducked a punch the buried his fist deep into the wizard's gut then tripped him and took off at a dead run towards Linda Downey. The warrior grabbed the enchanter from behind, twisting the knife out of her hand. But to his surprise Linda punched him on the jaw, snapping his head to the side and a bell-like voice started speaking in his head.

_ Drop the sword._

Slowly his fingers started loosing around _Charger's _handle.

Jess realized what Linda was doing to her son and standing up she pushed into his mind.

_ "Jay! Don't listen to the voice! You have to keep a hold on your sword! Don't let go!"_

_ It's alright, just let go, everything will be okay if you just drop the sword._

Jessamine had locked the three girls in Jay's car so they couldn't join the fight. Leah saw what was going on with her brother. The enchanter was trying to get him to drop _Charger_; she pushed into her brother's mind and realized that her mother was in his head as well. Leah was surprised that her mother hadn't gotten the enchanter out of Jay's head. Jessamine had strong mind magic, but this enchanter's magic was stronger.

Leander Hastings watched in amazement as Linda, Jessamine and her daughter all fought for control of the young warrior's mind. The boy had to have a strong mind if he could handle three people in his head, all with strong mind magic. Hastings stood and ran at the car with the White Rose leader's daughter. If he could just get Longbranch distracted, Linda could get the warrior to drop his sword.

Jessamine saw Hastings run at the Dodge Charger and threw up a shield charm, but broke concentration on Jay's mind. She pushed back into her son's mind trying to get Linda out. Then Hastings ran at her and they began fighting, launching spell after spell after spell. The whole time Jessamine kept in her son's mind, but was starting to sweat with exertion.

_ Be a good boy and drop the sword now._

_ "Jay, you can't listen. Don't let go of Charger!"_

_ Just drop your sword and it will be okay._

_ JAY YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME AND MOM! DON'T LET GO! KEEP CONTROL OF YOUR MIND, JUST PUSH THE ENCAHNTER OUT!_

_ Drop the sword._

_ "Jay-"_

Jessamine was cut off by Leander grabbing her by the throat and slamming her onto the ground with a sickening thud. Hastings formed a wizard's graffe in his palm and was about to bring it down onto her throat when a loud, drawn out, agonizing yell pierced the sound of rain fall.

Linda stared in awe at the sight of the warrior with his sword clean through his left hand.

Leah's eyes widened as she looked at her brother, with blood running down the blade of his sword and down the inside of his left forearm.

Well, she thought, that's one way to do it.

Hastings had turned to look at the warrior and was astonished at what he saw.

Jess fought back tears at the sight of her son as he sat in the mud on his knees with his sword through his left hand.

Jay had gotten to the point where he felt as if someone was tearing his brain apart. He had fallen to his knees, nearly dropping his sword in the process, entangling his left hand in his spiky black hair, yelling at the top of his lungs. To get them out he ran _Charger_ clean through his left palm. The pain had pushed his sister and the enchanter out of his head.

He pulled the sword out of his hand, standing, and taking deep breaths he ran at Leander Hastings. Jay grabbed the collar on the wizard's trench coat and threw him across the driveway and into the garage door. He held out a hand to his mother and helped her up, and then Jessamine's eyes widened and she threw him to the side and stuck her hand out. Hastings collided with her out stretched hand and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he hit the ground with a sickening thud. Then Jessamine turned to Linda Downey and shot an immobilization spell and the enchanter fell over unconscious.

"We need to get out of here, Jay," Jess said to her son.

"Alright," he replied tiredly.

They climbed into the car and drove off of Jay's property, headed for the airport to board a plane headed for London, England.

Aaron Ross had watched the whole battle, with someone standing next to him and behind him hidden in the trees. The girl next to him was Jay Longbranch's girlfriend.

"Well, well, well, Aaron. It seems we have found Jessamine Longbranch's weakness."

Falicia Longbranch walked out from the trees with an evil smile.


	13. Chapter 12

**PART IV**

CHAPTER 13

Returning to London

The group reached London at nine PM and they all got in Jessamine's Dodge Avenger and headed for her palace. Talia's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the sight of Jessamine's palace.

This place is huge, she thought. How can it be her home?

They walked in the front door and Jess smiled to herself.

It feels good to be home, she thought.

Jay went straight to his room, slammed the door shut and locked it. Jess frowned at that, something had to really be bothering him if he felt like he needed to be alone. Leah hollered for the servants and asked them to show Talia and Leesha each to a room. Jessamine sat down on the couch and snapped her fingers. A bottle of red wine and a wine glass appeared in front of her on the coffee table. Then it was Leah's turn to frown.

"You're already digging into the wine?" Leah asked, sitting next to her mother.

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" Jess said, throwing a challenging glance at her daughter.

"Yeah, I do have a problem with it. When you're stressed you can't look to alcohol as a reliever."

Jess thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers again and the wine vanished.

"You know what, you're right," she said standing up.

Leah's face lit up.

Jessamine stood up and went upstairs to her son's bedroom, knocking on the locked door.

"Jay?"

"Go away," he said, grimly.

"No. I'm your mother; I can tell when something is bothering you."

"I said go away."

Sighing, Jess used a charm to unlock the door. Walking in, she saw her son lying on his side facing the wall, his back to her.

"You know, I'm not sure what good a locked door is going to do in a house full of wizards," she said.

Silence

"Jay, please tell me what's wrong. I haven't seen you this troubled since you tried to-" she stopped herself.

Maybe right now isn't the best time to bring _**that**_ up, Jess thought to her self.

"Go on. Say it," Jay said quietly.

Now Jess was silent.

She laid a hand on her son's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Let me see your hand," she said quietly.

He made no motion to show her so she just grabbed his left wrist and faced the palm of his hand upward. The blood was dried, covering the gapping hole that would have been visible. Jessamine placed her right hand over the wound and pushed magic into it. When she lifted her hand there was just a scar.

Jay stayed silent, so Jess stood and walked towards the door, stopping just before closing it.

"I love you, Jay. Please, don't ever forget that."

"Here's the plan, Aaron," Falicia said to the Air Force pilot. "You'll follow Jessamine and get her alone then knock her out and bring her to me. Do you understand your orders?"

"Yes, Falicia."

"Sydney here will get to Jay."

Jay's girlfriend smiled at Aaron.

At last everything I've have worked towards will be accomplished, Falicia thought to her self.

After leaving Jay's room Jessamine got in the shower and cleaned the blood off of her self. When she got out she dried off and pulled on a low cut shirt, tight jeans, and her thousand dollar designer boots. Grabbing the keys to her car she went down stairs and headed towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Leah asked from her spot on the couch.

"Out," Jess said.

"You're going to the bar aren't you," Leah said with a frown.

Jess just raised an eyebrow.

Her mother's silence told her the answer.

"But you said that you weren't going to use alcohol as a stress reliever!"

"Who ever said that I was going to use alcohol?"

Jess had been reading her daughters thoughts and she gave a slight chuckle.

"And I'm not going to use drugs either, no worries."

"Why are you going to the bar then?"

"I need some company," Jessamine said opening and shutting the door.

Leah screamed in frustration.

"Why does she do this all the time? She's gonna get some STD or something!"

"Why are you screaming about STD's?"

Leah turned and saw her brother at the bottom of the stairs, giving her a weird look.

"Our mother is going to get herself _**killed!**_" Leah yelled, grabbing a pillow and chucking across the room.

She flinched when she heard a loud crash.

"Oops."

"Nice going! You just broke Mom's million dollar vase," Jay said folding his arms.

Then both of them burst into laughter.

"So where did Mother dearest take off to anyway?" Jay asked, plopping down on the couch next to Leah and turning the TV on.

"She goes to the bar every night and sleeps with some random guy she meets then kicks 'em out in the morning," Leah said rolling her eyes.

"Wow. When did she start that?"

"I have no idea."

"Hm. Wonder why she does that."

"Only God knows."

Jess was sitting at the bar staring into her wine glass when someone sat down next to her. The surgeon didn't even bother looking at the person.

"Hello, Dr. Longbranch."

She tensed. Now she looked up at the person.

"Aaron Ross. What do you want?" she said venomously.

"I have forgiven you, and I wanted you to know that," he said.

"That was twenty-three years ago. How do you know I haven't moved on?" she said, turning back to her wine.

"You wouldn't have been sitting here for over an hour by yourself if you had someone else."

Jess gripped the wine glass harder and took a quick gulp.

"How's that son of yours doing?"

She choked at the unexpected question.

"Why do you care?"

"Well I did give him his sword so I was just being curious," Aaron said with a shrug.

"He's fine. You can leave now," she said not looking at him.

"No I can't. I need you, Jessamine," he said, gripping her chin with his thumb and forefinger; forcing her to turn her head to look at him.

His deep blue eyes were full of longing.

Jess leaned towards him and their lips met. She kissed him and he kissed back.

She wanted to be alone again with the man she once loved; she needed him and wanted him.

A little push to his chest and they stopped kissing.

"Let's get out of here," she whispered.

They went out to her car and she drove back to her palace. By now it was 1 AM and there were no lights on in the palace.

Everyone's asleep, she thought.

The White Rose leader led Aaron up to her bedroom and closed the door behind them.

When Aaron turned to look at her, she pushed him against the wall pressing her lips to his. Jess was unbuttoning his shirt, while kissing him, and then he grabbed her by the arms and turned her so that it was her against the wall. Aaron started kissing down her neck, and her breathing became labored as her eyes rolled back.

Then Aaron stopped kissing her neck.

"Why did you leave me?" he asked.

"I had my reasons," she said opening her eyes.

He looked her in the eye and gave her a serious look.

"Tell me the truth."

"I was pregnant. I didn't want the Roses to find you, so I left."

Aaron gave her a confused look then his eyes widened.

"Then Jay is my son?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

He looked away from her, and she placed a hand on either side of his face and kissed him. He kicked his shoes off and she took his shirt off then his pants. She pulled her boots off and was about to take her shirt off when Aaron picked her up and carried her to the bed. He laid her down and took off her shirt then slid her pants off her legs, leaving her in nothing but a bra and underwear. Aaron began kissing her just above the belly button then slowly moved down.

His warm hands pulled her underwear from her waist and his lips went between her legs.

Jess buried her fingers in his hair and dragged his head up to hers and kissed him. The kiss was deep and passionate.

At that moment Jessamine knew this was where she wanted to be. In this moment and no where else. With the man she loved.

Aaron collapsed beside her. She looked over at him and noticed the scar on the left side of his face. Jess started running her finger up and down the scar, curious as to how he got it, but he just stared at the ceiling.

"How did you get this scar?" she asked.

"In a fight with another warrior, it was about a month after you left that I got it," he replied, looking at her.

"I'm sorry for leaving without an explanation or goodbye."

"That's in the past what matters is the here and now."

Wow, I really sound like a hypocrite, Aaron thought. Jay said the exact same thing to me. That boy is really wise beyond his years.

"I'm glad you have forgiven me," she said, kissing him deep and passionately.

"I love you," he said.

Jay, Leah, Talia, and Leesha were all sitting at the large dining table the next morning, laughing and talking about stupid things they all did as kids. Out of the corner of his eye Jay noticed someone coming down the stairs. Expecting his mother he turned and looked with a handsome smile. The smile quickly turned to a frown and look of hate when he saw who it really was.

"What are you doing in Jessamine's house, Aaron?" Jay said, standing up and knocking his chair over.

"Hello, Jay. As for the answer to your question you can ask her that," Aaron said with a yawn.

"I'm asking you."

Aaron stayed silent, and Jay snapped. The young warrior clenched his fist and ran at his father. Throwing a punch, that Aaron easily dodged catching Jay's arm, twisting it behind his back and slamming him hard into the wall. Jay relaxed then clenched his left hand, unclenched it and his sword appeared in his palm. He knocked Aaron's feet out from under him then slammed the rose pommel of his sword handle into the older warrior's jaw. Aaron stumbled from the blow, but pulled a sword handle from his jacket and with a flick of his wrist the blade grew.

Their swords clashed in a fast blur.

Jessamine had heard the commotion from upstairs and realized that the sound was two swords clanging together. She pulled some clothes on and ran down the stairs. The sight that met her made her eyes widen, her son and his father were fighting a death match and Leah was trying to aim a killing charm at Aaron but couldn't shoot it for fear of hitting Jay.

Jay grabbed Aaron by the throat and threw him out the window, into the back yard, then jumped out the window himself. Aaron stood ready to fend off an attack but wasn't ready enough. Jay's booted foot collided with his father's nose and hot sticky blood flowed down Aaron's face. The Air Force general fell backwards into a patch of roses and thorns stuck out of him everywhere. The young heart surgeon was about to end his father's life when an arm wrapped around his neck and a hand was holding his right arm hard enough to make him drop _Charger._

"Jay! What do you think you're doing?" Jessamine hissed in her son's ear.

"Let me go! I have to kill him!"

"He's your father, did you forget that?"

"No I didn't!"

"Then why are you hell bent on killing him?"

"Ask _**him**_that."

Jessamine looked at Aaron.

"Why is our son determined to kill you?" she asked.

"I have no idea."

"Liar!" Jay yelled trying to lunge forward.

Jess sent a shockwave through his body reminding him that she was still in control.

"Aaron?"

"Alright, the other day I attacked him."

"You _**what**_?"

"He tried to kill me!" Jay yelled.

"He's your son or did you forget that?" Jess yelled at Aaron.

"No I didn't forget. I was ordered by someone to try and kill him. But I didn't have the guts to kill him, after all he and his sister are your pride and joy."

"Who?"

"I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

He stayed silent.

Jessamine let go of her son.

"Get the fuck out, Aaron," she said closing her eyes and turning away from him.

"What?"

"Get. _**Out**_."

"Why?"

"My son will always mean more to me than you. Now _**leave**_."

Aaron left without another word.

Jay picked his sword up and walked inside, up to his room, and slammed and locked the door. This time Jess didn't go after him. She knew her son needed time alone and so did she.


	14. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 14

Another Disappearance

"I'm sorry Falicia. I wasn't able to get her alone. One of her kids was always by her side at one point or another," Aaron said, bowing on one knee.

"Hm, that's unfortunate. We'll just have to get the next best thing. One of her children. They are her pride and joy are they not? I mean we saw how she was around her son at that battle the other day," Falicia said, folding her hands and resting her chin on them.

"Take one of her kids then return to me. Sydney you get Jay and Aaron you help her in anyway you can."

"Yes, Mistress," Sydney and Aaron replied at the same time.

The next morning Jay had climbed into his Audi and sped down the street towards the bar. He had to be alone with his thoughts. He also needed a few shots of whiskey.

When he climbed out of the car someone grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back onto the driver's seat. That someone was his girlfriend. Sydney straddled him and kissed him deeply. Jay returned the passion. Sydney's hand went to her bra and she quickly grabbed him by the throat and forced him to swallow Weirsbane.

She climbed off him and dragged him from the car. Then another person punched him unbelievably hard in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him. He heard a scream then he was thrown to the ground. Sydney and the other person that had a hold of him had dropped him trying to protect themselves from a pissed off Jessamine Longbranch.

Jess had followed her son to the bar and saw when Sydney grabbed Jay. She had jumped out of her car and shot a wizard's graffe when she saw the girl drag him from the car. She ran at her son, who was lying on the ground looking about ready to puke. She kneeled next to Jay looking him over when someone grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her backwards onto the ground. Horrifying memories of her few days locked in a cell completely vulnerable to Hunter's will flashed into her mind. Jess looked over at her son and realized that it was Aaron who had punched him.

It must have been Weirsbane, she thought. Because Jay isn't putting up much of a fight.

Sydney, who had grabbed her, was now holding her down as Aaron ran to a car and threw Jay in the back seat. Jess quickly pushed into Aaron's mind and read his thoughts.

_So far so good; now all I have to do is get this kid to Falicia and my mission will be accomplished._

Falicia! I'll kill her! Jessamine thought.

"_**Jay!**_" Jess screamed at the top of her lungs as Aaron and Sydney drove away with Jay in the back seat of their car.

THAT NIGHT

"Everyone in the White Rose is to look for this man," Jessamine said, holding up a picture of Aaron.

Jess was standing at a podium with her daughter just behind her at her right hand.

"What has he done, Dr. Longbranch?" someone asked.

"That is none of your concern, just look for him and whoever finds him will be promoted. You are also to look for Falicia Longbranch. These people have committed a crime against the White Rose and I will personally deal with them once they are found."

"Your step mother?" another person said, confused.

"Yes. Now go, we only have a short time to find them."

Jessamine had called a full White Rose meeting, Falicia had crossed a line that should have never been crossed. Her step mother had fucked with her one to many times and this was the last straw.

This is war, Jessamine thought, frowning.

Jay woke up on a bed he had never slept in before and wondered where he was. A second after he sat up a woman with blond hair and cold blue eyes that looked to be in her early thirties entered the room.

"Who are you?" Jay asked.

"My name is Falicia Longbranch. I'm a friend of Jessamine's," the woman said.

"Dr. Longbranch never mentioned you to me."

"Well why would she? You're just a warrior and she's leader of the White Rose."

Jay just stared.

"Unless..." Falicia began. "What, do you two sleep together?"

Jay almost barfed at that thought.

"No it's not that based on your reaction. Hm… What could it be?"

Jay silently prayed this woman couldn't guess it. But almost everyone did because he looked so much like his mother.

"Oh, I got it," Falicia said, snapping her fingers. "You're her son!"

The young warrior had no reaction what so ever to Falicia's comment. Jessamine had taught him how to hide his emotions and she had taught him well.

"You look so much like her; she really is a beautiful woman. I was always a little jealous of your mother's good looks. She got it from her mother, just like you got your good looks from your mother. Hm, must run in the family."

"Wait a minute, are you and my mother related?"

"Yes actually, I'm her step mother. So I guess that makes me your grandmother," Falicia shivered at her own comment.

"That statement makes me feel old. Well anyway. Would you like something to eat? You must be starving."

"Sure."

Falicia snapped her fingers and servants came in with food, it looked like a whole banquet even.

After Jay ate his fill, which was all of the food, he sat on the bed and leaned against the wall, completely comfortable.

Falicia sat next to him.

"How much has your mother told you of her past?" she asked.

"Nothing, she never talks about anything she did or who Leah's dad is or anything about her life before me and Leah even came into the picture," Jay replied.

"Do you know why she never told you?"

"No. I don't."

"She never wanted you or Leah," Falicia whispered, her lips right next to Jay's ear.

His heart skipped a beat. He had never thought about it that way, the young surgeon had always thought that the reason his mother never talked about her past was because she regretted it and didn't want him to be ashamed of her. Jay looked at Falicia in complete and utter disbelief.

"Is that true?"

"I'm afraid it is. She was quite young when she had you and still had her whole life ahead of her. I mean she was the youngest person to become leader of the White Rose. Amazing really."

"How old was she when she became leader?"

"Twenty."

Jay just stared at the wall, thinking hard.

"That was a lot of responsibility to put on a girl her age. Then she went and got herself pregnant. Then what did she do? The great Jessamine Longbranch gave up her newborn baby. Don't you understand, Jay? She gave you up because she didn't care; she only kept Leah because she was a wizard, an asset to the White Rose."

A confused and hurt look came over Jay's handsome features.

"She wouldn't," he said, clenching his fists.

"She would. I've known Jessamine longer that you have, Jay. Giving you up was exactly something the woman I know would do."

Jay stood up and paced uncontrollably. Falicia just sat and watched his every move. Then the young warrior turned and punched the wall as hard as he could. The walls were made of solid stone and he had punched a hole in it. Falicia raised an eyebrow slightly.

Such strength, she thought.

Jay's breathing was labored and a vein stuck out in his forehead. His arms shook in anger and he clenched his teeth. Falicia stood up and laid a hand on his shoulder, pushing Persuasion into him.

"Jay, you need to calm down now. Everything will be okay, just lie down and go to sleep," she said with a silky tone.

Jay obeyed as if in a trance. He lied down and fell into a deep sleep.

Good, Falicia thought. I've got him on my side, he probably hates Jessamine now and that's just what I need.

Jessamine was sitting at her huge dining room table nursing a glass of wine when Leah walked in looking frustrated.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Jess asked.

"No one has found Aaron or Falicia. It's really bothering me that you have almost the whole White Rose looking for those two and no one's seen them," Leah said, folding her arms and sitting down across from her mother.

Jessamine's eyes narrowed and she frowned. For some reason it didn't surprise her that no one could find them.

Falicia always covers her tracks, Jess thought.

"That guy that's a spy for us told me who the new leader of the Red Rose is," Leah said.

Her mother's head snapped up in interest. Jess had been dying to know who the new leader was.

"Falicia Longbranch."

The White Rose leader almost spit her wine all over her daughter.

"_**What?**_"

"Yeah, that's what I said."

Jess frowned even more. By taking her son Falicia had sent an invitation for all out warfare; Wizard warfare.

That night Jessamine was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. Then there was a knock at her bedroom door.

Sighing, she said, "Come in."

Leah walked in with an angry and confused look on her young face.

"Mom, Aaron Ross is here to see you," Leah said quietly.

Jessamine tensed for a moment then threw the covers off and went down stairs. Aaron was standing by the front door looking around with his hands in his pockets.

"What the fuck do _**you**_ want?" Jess asked, folding her arms.

"Hello to you too," Aaron said.

Jessamine's temper snapped and she ran at her former lover and slammed him into the wall, one hand on his throat the other on his chest.

"Don't fuck with me, Aaron," she said with a quiet, deadly tone. "Where is my son?"

Aaron just glared at her.

"Tell me where he is or I'll put a wizard's graffe in you and laugh while you die a very slow and _**very painful**_death."

Leah watched the interaction with concern and fear. The young wizard had never seen her mother like this before. Cold, focused, and ready to kill. Well focused and ready to kill, but never this cold.

"You wouldn't do that, Jess," Aaron said with a confident tone.

"What makes you think so?" Jessamine said through clenched teeth, tightening her grip on the warrior's neck.

"What I said to you the other night will always be on your mind," he said with a smirk.

"Fuck what you said! You lied and put my son in the hands of a madwoman!"

"Jay is my son too."

"As far as I'm concerned he doesn't have a father. I also can't see why there's any point to you living any longer."

"I can take you to Jay; it'll just take a week or so."

"You have _**1 week**_. If Jay is dead when I get to him I will make the rest of your life a living _**hell**_," Jess said, getting in Aaron's face.

Jessamine turned away, letting go of his throat, and headed upstairs.

"Leah show, our _**guest**_ the way out."


	15. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 15

A New Apprentice

Jess had fallen asleep the second that her head had hit the pillow and she dreamt… Nightmares…

_Jessamine stood in her home office staring up at the painted picture of her parents hanging on the wall. In the picture Kaitlynn Longbranch sat in a red armchair, her black hair cascading down her shoulders. Her piercing green eyes held a light of dignity and pride. _

_ Jamison Longbranch stood behind the armchair with one hand on his wife's shoulder. His sleek black hair was slicked back and his brown eyes were full of pride._

_ Jess had looked up at that picture many times mostly on the nights that she spent with her father. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists at the memories. Jamison had had a relationship with his daughter that was meant for his wife._

_ Strong arms wrapped around her waist and spun her around. The man kissed her deeply and passionately. As the kiss was broken she opened her eyes to find her father staring at her lustfully. Jess's breathing accelerated as his hand slipped in between her legs. She closed her eyes and let out a moan. After what seemed like an eternity of pleasure the hand left and she opened her eyes again._

_ A memory replayed through her thoughts…_

_ "The girl you knew is dead," Jess said, standing up, tears still rolling down her cheeks._

_ "No… she's still in there somewhere. Someone just has to come along and dig her out…"_

_ Her father was no longer in front of her. Her mentor Nelson Hardy now stood before her with a longing smile on his handsome face. He kissed her, his tongue roaming her mouth and when he pulled away it was Hunter Pinebone standing there, with an evil sadistic grin. _

_ He roughly shoved her against the wall and tore her shirt open. His lips went to her breasts and one hand went between her thighs. Jessamine let out a long, drawn out moan._

_ Hunter picked her up and set her on the desk. He then tore her pants, and underwear completely from her legs. _

_ He pushed into her forcefully and she screamed in agony._

Jessamine bolted upright, awakened in a cold sweat. She was breathing hard as she stood up and walked to the bathroom. She splashed cold water in her face then placed her hands on the edge of the counter, and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her piercing green eyes were full of fear, and hate. The level of hate she felt was only harbored for one man.

Hunter Pinebone.

The nightmare hit close to home and reminded her of a time she wished had never happened. The man she trusted the most had violated her in a way that no woman should be violated. Hunter Pinebone had broken her, leaving her in a deep depression for months on end. Leah had had to address the White Rose for her for some time, not wanting anyone to see the state her mother was in and wanting no one know that she was weakened.

After a few minutes her breathing slowed and she went and sat on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands.

There was a knock at her door. She glanced at her clock, 2:00 AM. Who would be knocking on her door this early?

She opened the door to find Talia Jackson standing there with a scared look on her face.

"Yes?" Jessamine asked.

"Are you okay, Dr. Longbranch?" the young girl asked.

"I'm fine. Why?"

"Well I heard you screaming and I thought something was wrong."

Shit, Jess thought, I was screaming. It's been a while since the nightmares were that bad.

"I'm fine, thank you for the concern."

"Oh, well... okay."

Talia turned and went down the hallway to her bedroom.

Just as Jessamine was about to shut her door, Leah walked out of her own bedroom.

"Mom? I heard you screaming, what's wrong?" Leah asked.

"I had another nightmare."

"Why won't you tell me what Hunter did to you? It was really bad; I mean it sent you into a depression for almost two years!"

Jessamine figured it was time to tell her daughter what happened, so she gestured for her daughter to come into her room and the surgeon closed the door behind her. Leah sat down in a chair close to the bed and Jess sat down on the edge of the bed again.

She took a deep breath and began.

"Hunter hit me with an immobilization spell and took me to Raven's Ghyll, locking me up in a dungeon cell. I woke up and he came to talk to me about something. He tried to say something that I really didn't want to hear, so I spit in his face. I angered him enough that he... he..."

"What did he do, Mom?"

"He raped me," Jess said quietly, closing her eyes.

Leah just stared wide eyed.

"How..."

"More than once, he had just finished up when you and Jay got there to rescue me."

"That's why you were sent into such a big depression. He broke you."

Jess looked at the floor. Her daughter had hit the nail right on the head. Leah jumped at her mother and wrapped her in a hug.

"I'm sorry, Mom. That shouldn't have happened to you."

Jessamine hugged her daughter close and tight, not wanting to lose the only child she had left right now.

The next morning Jess had woken up with an idea. Talia was a wizard and the White Rose needed new wizards. The White Rose leader was sitting at the dining room table reading the newspaper and drinking coffee when the young brunette came down stairs.

"Talia?" Jessamine asked, after the eighteen year old sat down with a bowl of breakfast.

"Yes, Dr. Longbranch?"

"Would you like me to train you in wizardry? I could teach you things that only a select few know."

"That would be awesome!"

"If I teach you these things you have to become a White Rose wizard and if you don't I will have to kill you. The things I will teach you can only remain within the White Rose."

Talia stared at her cereal for a moment.

"Okay. I will."

Jessamine smiled, a not something she did often.

"Good. Training starts in thirty minutes."


	16. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 16

A Foolish Game

A WEEK LATER

Aaron's time is up, Jess thought. If he doesn't come within the next forty five minutes I'm attacking the Red Rose headquarters.

Just then Leah ran up with Talia, Leesha and Aaron behind her.

"You actually came. I wasn't expecting you to," Jessamine said.

"Follow me and I can take you to him," Aaron replied.

Longbranch followed Aaron with Talia, Leesha, and Leah behind her. Aaron snuck them into the Red Rose HQ and led them to a large room. Once they were in the room the door slammed shut behind them and a loud click sounded, signaling that the door was locked.

"Leah!" _Shield! _Jess sent the thought to her daughter's mind.

Right after Jessamine and Leah each threw up a shield wizard's graffes had come at them from all different directions.

Fuck, I should have known that it was a trap, Jess thought.

"So good to see you again, Jessamine. It's been quite a while hasn't it?"

Falicia Longbranch was standing a few feet in front of the small group of White Rose wizards and their leader.

_ Leah, keep the shield up._

_** Will do, Mom.**_

"Falicia," Jessamine said with a venomous tone.

"Come for your son have you? Well I don't see what good that will do."

"Oh and why not?"

"I'm fairly sure he hates you. Couldn't give a shit less about you."

Jess's eyes narrowed.

"What have you done to my son, Falicia?"

"Nothing. I just told him some things and he formed his own opinion of you."

"Dr. Longbranch! Look out!" Talia yelled.

Out of the corner of her eye Jessamine saw someone running at her at full speed. The White Rose leader ducked and slammed an open palm with a wizard's graffe into the person's throat as they flew over her head. It was an Anaweir.

"What are you doing with Anaweir fighting for you, Falicia? To old to do the dirty work?" Jess taunted.

"I find with a little persuasion and mind control any Anaweir makes a good fighter," Falicia replied, ignoring the insult.

Twenty or more Anaweir in armor and red cloaks, carrying swords and knives ran at Jess and her little group.

An Anaweir swung his sword horizontally at Jessamine's midsection, with her quick reflexes she ducked and slammed a palm into the man's stomach. His eyes widened and blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth, then his eyes rolled back. The White Rose leader pushed the dead man aside as two more Anaweir ran at her. One got closer to her faster than the other and with bad luck he tripped and Jess caught him by the throat, sending a wizard's graffe pulsing through his veins; she kneed him in the stomach and let him drop to the floor. The other Anaweir had knives, and closing in on her he swung out at her throat. She turned to the side, but the knife got her just below the chin. As she felt blood drip down her chest, soaking her shirt, she grabbed the Anaweir's wrist and snapped his arm then twisted him so that he was on his knees with his back to her and her arms in position to break his neck, and that's just what she did.

"My, my, Jessamine. So ruthless. That's not the little girl I remember."

Jess turned. Falicia was standing just out of reach, smirking evilly. Jessamine just glared back.

"Well since you seem to be tongue tied at the moment, I must prepare a '_**friend**_'' of yours," Falicia said, disappearing with a slight flash of light.

"Talia!" Jess yelled, looking around for her new apprentice.

"Yes, Dr. Longbranch?" Talia asked, while tripping an Anaweir and slamming her hand into the back of his head.

Wizard's graffe to the brain, good idea, Jess thought.

"Thank you," Talia said.

Jessamine raised an eyebrow. Talia had been reading her mind.

"I need you to concentrate on Falicia's mind and find out what she meant by a '_**friend**_''," Jessamine said.

"Alright, but it will take a minute or two," Talia replied.

"Leah, Leesha! Get over here, now!"

The two girls ran over launching spells over their shoulders as they ran.

"Triangle formation around Talia, don't let anyone or anything through."

For about five minutes, Jessamine, Leesha, and Leah fought off Anaweir and wizard a like, in a triangle around Talia.

"Got it!" Talia shouted.

Jessamine shot her a look that said out with it.

"It's Jay, by a 'friend' she... she meant Jay."

Just then there was a flash of light and Jay appeared with his father, next to Falicia.

"Do you three remember what I told you about wizards equaling an army?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, three wizards equals an army right?" Leah replied.

"Correct. There are four of us so we equal an army and a third. Talia you come with me and Leesha go with Leah. Take out as many people as you can, if we lose this it will mean the end of our lives."

Talia ran alongside her mentor taking out wizard after wizard and Anaweir after Anaweir. Jess was doing the same, but all she was concerned about was keeping Talia safe from harm and getting to her son. Then, out of no where, Aaron Ross was standing in front of them, his sword poised for an attack.

"Surrender, Jess. This is a battle you can't win," Aaron said, with his deep seductive voice.

"Fuck you, Aaron," she replied as she slowed to a stop.

_ Talia, get two wizard's graffes made and get ready to attack. Aaron isn't a push over and he's not easily beaten so we have to work together to take him down, _Jess sent the thought to Talia.

** Yes, Dr. Longbranch.**

Just then Aaron ran at Talia, ready to tear the young girl apart. Jessamine reacted purely on instinct and rammed a shoulder into Aaron's side, knocking him off balance. The warrior's fist slammed into Jess's diaphragm, knocking all air out of her. The White Rose leader stumbled trying to catch her breath, Talia had gotten the wizard's graffes formed and now that Aaron was facing Jess, Talia ran at the tall warrior. His right arm went up and out to the side. Talia ran into his brick solid arm and the young wizard fell over, gasping for breath. Aaron turned suddenly and ran off in the other direction.

Jay was fighting towards Leesha Middleton, aiming to kill her. Just before he reached her his sister came out of no where.

"Stop this, Jay! It's nonsense!"

"No, it's not! Mom never wanted us, the only reason she kept you was so the White Rose could have a new wizard," Jay through clenched teeth.

"What are you talking about? Of course she wants us! We're her children!" Leah yelled in dismay.

An arm wrapped around Leah's neck and a long sword went through her midsection, blood dripping down the sword and from the hole in her stomach.

The sword was pulled out and Leah fell. Jay dove forward to catch his sister and behind her stood Aaron Ross. Without a word Aaron ran off to fight someone else.

"She's risked her life for us on more than one occasion. Mom will always love us, Jay. You can't ever forget that."

With those last words Leah's eyes rolled back and her last breath left her body.


	17. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 17

Another Death

"_**LEAH!**_"

Jessamine turned from the Anaweir she had been fighting to see her son holding his sister's bloody, unmoving body. She felt tears welling up and start sliding down her cheeks as Jay laid Leah's body down and took his sword out of its scabbard. And he started running in the direction of a tall man with a long sword. Then Jess realized that he was running at Aaron, his own father. The White Rose leader was confused as to why he was attacking Aaron so she pushed into his mind and watched the horrific scene replaying over and over in her son's head, of Aaron stabbing a sword clean through Leah.

Pulling out of Jay's mind, Jess felt her own rage rising

"I'll kill you!" Jay yelled as he ran at his father.

Aaron turned just as Jay jumped and slammed the rose pommel of his sword into Aaron's ribcage. Bones cracked and shattered, but that didn't stop him. Just as Jay landed he threw and uppercut into his father's jaw, knocking the man off balance. But Aaron grabbed Jay's wrist as he fell and buried his fist deep in the young man's stomach. Jay swung his sword in an overhand arch. Aaron brought his sword up and blocked the hard swing, then an arm wrapped around his neck and another around his chest.

The young heart surgeon had a confused look on his face as Aaron twisted his sword and brought it back to cut the person holding on to him. The person gave a sharp intake of breath, then the arms tightened their grip and to Jay it sounded as if the person was about to use a spell. In a split second Aaron vanished. Jay then realized that it was his mother who had been holding onto Aaron. She was breathing deeply and had blood running down the right side of her face and she had a cut on her cheek that was the source of the blood.

"Go help Talia and Leesha, Jay," she said turning to look for Aaron.

Jay ran off to help the two young wizards.

Jessamine found Aaron and forming a wizard's graffe in her hand, she ran at her former lover. Just as she was about to reach the unsuspecting warrior someone wrapped an arm around her midsection, then her neck and forced her to her knees. The person that had grabbed her laughed in her ear and Jess's heart skipped a beat as memories flooded through her brain.

"Perfect, I have you in the palm of my hand now, Jessamine," Falicia said with a triumphant tone.

Jessamine tried to struggle her way out, but her step mother had a tight grip on her.

"I'll make you wish you were never picked to be the White Rose leader. Fuck I'll make you wish you were never born," Falicia whispered menacingly to her step daughter, then to Aaron she said, "Aaron, would you like the honors of torturing Dr. Longbranch?"

"My pleasure," he said through clenched teeth.

Aaron stepped forward and raised his sword to make the first burning cut. As he brought the sword down to stab her, Jess closed her eyes, expecting terrible pain. But it never came. She looked up and realized that someone was standing between her and Aaron, a sword sticking out of their torso and blood dripping from the sword.

Jessamine Longbranch's eyes widened.

"Jay," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes and grief overtaking her body, mind and soul.

Falicia kept a tight grip on her.

"_**LET GO OF ME!**_" Jess screamed.

Falicia let go of her and Aaron pulled the sword from his son's midsection and ran off with the Red Rose leader to fight Talia and Leesha. Jay fell to his knees then onto his side, but before he could actually hit the ground Jess caught him, holding her son close as if her life and his depended on it. She applied pressure to the gaping wound in Jay's chest but the blood wouldn't stop flowing. Tears ran down her cheeks as her son struggled to breathe.

"M-mom," he choked out.

"Jay stop talking, you need to save your energy," she said, trying to stay calm.

"No, it's over for me. I put myself in the way so Aaron wouldn't kill you," Jay said as he wrapped a hand around her wrist and placed her blood covered hand over his heart.

"You'll always have my heart and I'm sorry I ever doubted your love for me and Leah. You're my mother and that will never change, nor will your love for us, and I'm sorry if I've done anything to make you regret being my mother," he gave her wrist a reassuring, comforting squeeze.

"Now it's time for you to prove to Aaron and Falicia once and for all why you were picked to be the leader of the White Rose. Why you're the best damn leader the White Rose will ever see and why no one should ever fuck with Jessamine Longbranch."

She stared into her son's deep blue eyes and saw a burning passion there.

"I love you, Mom. I never got the chance to say that," Jay's eyes then rolled back and the young warrior, Jessamine Longbranch's only son, the Heir to the White Rose, took his last breath.

Jess hugged her son's body close as she cried harder than she ever had before. Memories and regrets filled her head.

_Jessamine Longbranch threw her head back and clenched her teeth trying to hold back screams of agony. A contraction racked its way through her whole body and a scream escaped her lips._

_ "You're gonna be alright, Dr. Longbranch, the baby's almost here," the nurse said rubbing her the mother in labor's arm comfortingly._

_ Jess screamed again and as the scream ended her breathing was heavy and fast. Her eyes slid shut and just as she was about to pass out from exhaustion she heard a voice whisper in her ear._

_ Her green eyes shot and her breath caught in her throat._

_**It'll be alright, Jesse, just stay strong my sweet beautiful butterfly.**_

___That was her mother's voice…_

_ Her body arched up and the loudest scream yet left her lungs._

_Pain coursed through her body as another contraction came on. Sweat was pouring off her forehead and she heard her own screams. Then chorusing her own screams were that of a little baby._

_The doctor handed her the baby boy. He looked at her with deep blue eyes and smiled at her before yawning and cuddling up to Jessamine and falling asleep._

I wish I had always kept him that close. I wish I never gave him away.

I wish, I wish, I wish.


	18. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 18

Sweet Revenge

_ My daughter. _

She looked over at Leah's bloody, crumpled body.

_My son._

Then she looked at Jay's bloody, war torn body.

She stood with her son's sword, _Charger, _in her blood soaked hand.

_My whole world has been torn right out from under me, _she thought as she lowered her head and closed her eyes. Her head snapped up suddenly looking for Falicia. When she saw the Red Rose leader standing a few feet away fighting Leesha Middleton and Talia Jackson, she tightly gripped the leather handle of her son's sword. Jessamine Longbranch ran at her step mother.

_I have nothing left to lose._

Jess brought the heavy sword back for a swing that could easily take Falicia's head off. She swung and came within centimeters of taking the Red Rose leader's head clean from her shoulders, but something had pulled the wizard out of the way.

Damn it! Jess thought.

Aaron Ross had pulled Falicia out of the way and now he stood stock ready with his sword held at the ready.

"Playing with sharp objects now are we, Jess? You know, that can be dangerous when you don't now how to use it. As the saying goes, you play with fire you get burned," Aaron said with a smirk.

Talia and Leesha both came forward as if to join the fight.

"Stay out of this!" Jessamine snapped at them, keeping her eyes on Aaron every second.

The young wizards stopped in their tracks and threw a glance at each other.

Aaron jumped at her, she dodged to the side, but he pivoted and landed a hard punch to her jaw, throwing her off balance.

"You're weak!" he yelled.

He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her to the ground with a hair raising thud.

"You're pathetic!"

Talia and Leesha lunged forward to help their leader, but Falicia appeared right in front of them.

"Now, now, girls. You heard your leader, stay out of it and let them have some fun. Obedience is important," the Red Rose leader said with a cruel smile.

Aaron landed another punch to her stomach, causing her to cough up blood.

"You're a _**whore!"**_

Jessamine grabbed Aaron by the wrist and sent an electric shock through his nervous system. The Air Force general flew back with a yell that sounded as if someone was jamming a knife directly into his spinal column. Jess got an idea, she had seen Jay create fire on the blade of his sword before, so why couldn't she. She closed her eyes and focused and when she opened her eyes the blade was engulfed in blood red flames, then with a smirk Jess added an incredibly deadly wizard's graffe into the flame and embedded in the blade as well.

Aaron ran at her again, but this time she was ready. He swung his sword horizontally so she ducked and slammed her palm into his diaphragm, using the same shock spell. She punched him across the jaw, then knocked his sword from his hand, then threw another punch but to the nose this time. The White Rose leader felt cartilage break beneath her fist and smiled because of it. Then she kneed him in the groin, forced him to his knees and wrapped her fingers in his hair. She stuck Jay's sword into the floor (the flame still burning) and pushed the front of her body completely up against Aaron's back.

Time to have a little fun, she thought.

"You know, Aaron. I've really missed being able to have my body against yours like this," she whispered, her lips right next to Aaron's ear and her voice laced with persuasion.

She heard him take a sharp breath as he realized just how close her body was to his. Jess smiled to herself.

This will be fun, she thought.

The White Rose leader moved her left hand around his waist then up his shirt. Her soft hand went over his stomach, barely touching, teasing. Aaron's breathing picked up. He may have been trying to kill her, but she was still a woman. A beautiful, tempting woman and he was still a man who had his needs. She yanked his head back and began softly kissing his neck.

Talia stared at he mentor and leader as if the woman had gone insane. Well there were times when Talia really questioned Jessamine's sanity, but this was _**real**_ _**insanity.**_ Jess was touching and kissing the man who had killed her daughter and son. The man who had claimed to have loved her, then buried a knife in her back. Talia had dug through her mentor's mind before, without Jess noticing of course.

Talia threw a glance at Leesha and noticed that she really didn't look that surprised.

"Why aren't you surprised that she's doing this?" Talia asked her friend.

"Why are _**you **_surprised? You've been in her mind before, this is how she is," Leesha said, not looking away from the scene.

With that statement Talia pushing into Jessamine's mind. Her leader's mind was all over the place. She was remembering times from when she was young and had just barely met Aaron, Jay's birth, the last time Jess and Aaron had slept together, a memory of Falicia attacking her when she was twenty, the horrible images of her children dying and the last words she spoke to them. But one stuck out the most.

_I'm going to fuck with him and his emotions a little, and then I'll bury the knife that he stuck in my back, in his __**neck.**_

Talia's eyes flew open.

"I never would have thought of that," she said, blinking confused, amazed, and disgusted at the same time.

"What?" Leesha asked, glancing at her friend.

"She's toying him."

Falicia stared at her step daughter with a frown. This girl was smart, tricking Aaron and fucking with his head was the perfect way to distract him.

As her lips reached his, she pulled her hand out from under his shirt and gripped _Charger's _leather handle. Jess pulled her son's sword from the ground and placed the blade up to Aaron's throat and cut the vulnerable, exposed vein wide open. She pulled her lips from his and watched as he drowned in his own blood and not a single tear was shed for the father of her son.

_Sweet revenge, _Jessamine thought with a smirk.


	19. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 19

War is Just a Fools Game

_**"Nobody is perfect."**_

_** - Anonymous**_

__Jess just stared at the body of her former lover and Anaweir rushed at her from all directions. In a flash Talia and Leesha were beside her, throwing wizard's graffe after wizard's graffe. The White Rose leader looked at her two apprentices with pride.

"You two can handle yourselves right," she asked.

"Yeah, they're just Anaweir," Talia replied.

Without a word, Jessamine ran off towards Falicia, cutting down any Anaweir or Red Rose wizard that stood in her way. When she reached Falicia, the Red Rose leader started slowly clapping her hands.

"Well, well, well, Jessamine. I would have never thought you could actually fuck with someone like that. But then you really know men like the back of your hand don't you?" Falicia taunted.

"What was this all about, Falicia? You've destroyed my family and forced me to kill the only man I ever loved!" Jess yelled.

"Oh, I don't think so, young Jessamine. I didn't force you to do anything. It was you who made the decision to fuck with Aaron and his emotions, not me. I also wasn't the one who killed your children now was I?"

"It's your fault they're dead and in my book that's just as bad as actually killing them."

"Well think what you want of me, but you know the real reason for this, Jessamine, you just have to search your memory a bit."

She thought for a moment, then her eyes widened.

"You're still obsessed with leading the White Rose? Why do you care? That was years ago and now you lead the Red Rose. What more could you want?"

With the blink of an eye Falicia was gone.

"To end your life," Falicia said, standing right behind her.

Jess ducked as Falicia tried to hit her with a wizard's graffe, and then she jumped forward and front rolled. Turning to fight back, the White Rose leader realized that her step mother was right in front of her.

"I want to take away your pride and dignity, my _**dear**_ _**step daughter!"**_

"I hate to break it to you _**'mother dearest'**_, but someone already beat you to it," Jessamine said dodging another spell.

Falicia stopped short.

"Who and how?"

"Hunter Pinebone."

"What you're not going to tell me how? I see then, I'll just have to force it out of you."

Falicia ran at her step daughter and slammed her into a wall hard enough to knock the breath from her.

"Tell me what he did. _**Now**_," Falicia said with a deadly tone.

Jess glared at her step mother and almost spat in her face. But look where it got her the last time she spit in someone's face.

"He raped me," Jess said quietly.

Falicia's serious look turned into one of pure happiness and amusement.

"That was the perfect punishment for you! He broke you didn't he? That's why your daughter addressed the White Rose for two years. I had been hoping that you had rolled over and died."

"If I had died it wouldn't have mattered. Leah would have become leader after me."

"You know what I just realized, Jess?"

Jessamine just glared.

"You and I are the only ones left in the Longbranch family. We shouldn't be fighting each other we should be working together in peace and harmony," Falicia said sarcastically with an evil smirk.

"The only thing that makes you a Longbranch is the last name. You don't have my blood _**or**_ the respect that comes with the Longbranch name and bloodline," Jess said with a grim tone.

"You know, you're right. I don't _**share**_ your blood, but I can sure as hell _**spill**_ it!"

With that Falicia pulled out a knife and with one hand on Jessamine's throat, she grabbed her step daughter's wrist and ran the blade over the veins. The skin ripped open and blood poured out.

"I want to watch you bleed to death," Falicia said with an evil smile.

Falicia had forgotten one thing.

_Charger_

Jess brought the handle up and slammed it into the side of the Red Rose leader's head, snapping her head to the side. Falicia gripped Jess's neck and slammed the White Rose leader's head against the wall. Jessamine's head throbbed like never before, but she threw a punch to Falicia's temple. The older wizard hit the ground with a thud. Then all of a sudden Jess's veins felt like they were on fire. She dropped Jay's sword and fell to her knees, clutching her left wrist, trying to staunch the bleeding and the burning feeling. Falicia knelt over her and placed a hand around Jessamine's throat, forcing her against the wall and getting in her face.

"Do you remember when you told me that everyone has hidden motives?"

Jess nodded.

"I asked you if you had hidden motives, you said no. That was just over twenty years ago. Do you have any hidden motives now, Jessamine?"

"I'd be lying if I said no," she replied.

"You see-"

"But," Jess cut her off.

"But?"

"I'm still the best God damned leader the White Rose has ever seen," Jess said with a smirk.

A burning spell flowed through her body again and she let out a blood curdling scream.

"Your still a weak, cowardly, _**whore**_ Jessamine."

Falicia placed the knife against Jess's throat. The White Rose leader closed her eyes, ready for the end.

All the fighting had stopped and every eye in the room was trained on the two wizards.

Talia realized that it was Jessamine who was bleeding and leaned up against the wall with a knife to her throat. But for some reason the young wizard couldn't move, out of fear and panic.

_Don't give up, Mom._

Jess opened her eyes. The voice in her head had sounded like Leah's. She looked around for her daughter but only saw the lifeless body.

_Show her that you're stronger and more worthy of the position of White Rose leader._

That time it was Jay.

_My beautiful daughter. I'm proud of you for the decisions you have made concerning your children. Avenge their deaths and kill this vile woman._

Jess's eyes widened as her mother's voice echoed through her ears.

_**Show her what happens when you fuck with a Longbranch.**_

__All of them spoke as one.

Just as Falicia was about to slit her throat open, Jess caught her hand by the wrist. She forced Falicia back and it gave her enough time to stand and pick up Charger. Then she ran at Falicia, with a wizard's graffe in one hand and her son's sword in the other. She slammed her palm into Falicia's throat and pushed her against the wall.

The wizard's graffe started taking effect immediately, the Red Rose leader's power dwindling. Then Jess placed the point of the sword where Falicia's heart was.

"I am the true leader of the White Rose. I have proved that to you and everyone else in this room. This is what happens when you fuck with me. As far as I'm concerned you were never part of my family and never will be. You caused the death of both my children and now you will pay the price," Jessamine Longbranch said with a strong voice, despite the blood gushing from her left wrist.

This is the end, she thought.

She pushed the sword through Falicia's chest and into the evil wizard's cold, black heart.

Falicia hit the floor, dead. Jessamine Longbranch had won. But she still had one more fight to overcome. She had lost a lot of blood and both her children were dead. Jess slumped against the wall, Jay's sword clanging to the ground and her after it. The next thing she knew Talia and Leesha were standing over her trying to heal her injuries. A minute later she sat up and looked at her wrist, where all that remained was a scar.

Great, she thought, one more to add to the collection.

Her head slumped against the wall and she thought hard for a moment.

"Talia, Leesha?"

"Yes Dr. Longbranch?" they both asked.

"Never make the same mistakes I did."

They were both silent.

Then Jess said,

"War is just a game that all of us fools play for power."


End file.
